


Press X to Kiss

by WritingButterfly



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akira is so gay, Akira's confidence is fake, Blow Jobs, Canon Divergence, Chapter 6 onwards contains closet to endgame spoilers, Gets flustered so easily, I just started writing on a whim so, I'll add more tags as i go, M/M, Minor Haru/Makoto, Sloppy Makeouts, Small amount of Akira/Mishima, Spoilers for after Haru's dad's palace, he's a nerd, headcanons galore, honestly it's been so long since I've published fanfiction I have no idea how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2018-11-12 10:43:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 56,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11160243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingButterfly/pseuds/WritingButterfly
Summary: Akira is pretty darn gay. He doesn't let many people know but his friends in the Phantom Thieves are the best in the world and Yusuke is just too gorgeous and sweet for his own good. Watch as Akira and Yusuke become absolute saps while trying to change the hearts of shitty adults.





	1. 3 Times

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly it's been so long since I've written fanfiction.

The first time he ever lets the fact he’s gay known he’s ashamed to remember the incident. Running off a low key high from having defeated Kamoshida and having him confess to his crimes. Honestly who could blame him from feeling so proud of himself for that? Kamoshida was an asshole and it was the ‘troubled kids’ who caused him to confess. Not that anyone would know…but it still felt good.

He was in the bathroom at school when Mishima walked, no jogged, in. A smile burst on his face when he saw Akira who was washing his hands.

 “Akira!” He chirped, he smiled a lot more now and Akira found it adorable. “Thank you.”

“What for?” Akira asked playing the fool. They both knew what for but honestly announcing in public that they were Phantom Thieves was not the best idea. For obvious reasons. Morgana would have a heart attack if he started to proclaim it like Ryuji did.

“You know the-” Akira swiftly put a finger to Mishima’s lips and shook his head.

“Don’t mention it.” He said with a smile.

“That won’t do!” Mishima replied. “I just…I need some way to show my gratitude aside from…the forum.”

He looked down shyly at his feet shuffling them a bit. Partially embarrassed from having almost blurting out the big secret. He was so cute. Akira found himself gently caressing the side of his face where a bruise was still healing. To think that Kamoshida got away for this for so long, it made him sick to his stomach, but that was all over with now. The abuse Mishima and the other volleyball team members must have suffered. Not even them, Ryuji and the previous track team as well. It was sickening that the school allowed this go on for so long.

“A-Akira?” Mishima stammered.

Oh.

His hand was still gently cupping Mishima’s cheek now. He took Mishima’s chin between his thumb and forefinger.

“Maybe a hero’s reward then?” He suggested boldly. He smiled at the way Mishima blushed.

“What’s that?” He asked. Akira leaned in a little closer testing the waters, Mishima didn’t back away but his blush darkened.

“A kiss…” He whispered. “If you don’t mind of course.” He looked down then back up looking Mishima in the eyes. The other boy hesitated and Akira was about to apologise and back out when Mishima nodded the tips of his ears burning.

Akira gently cupped his face with both hands now and tilted Mishima’s head to the side before gently pressing a kiss to his lips. He held it closing his eyes and sliding his hands around to the back of Mishima’s neck. After a moment he pulled away with a content sigh. He smiled at Mishima before leaving the bathroom.

 

 

The second time (well it might not count but Akira was counting it) was after they recruited Yusuke and Madarame is defeated. It was purely an accident this time but it made his heart flutter.

They had been in Mementos going after some targets. Akira, well Joker, had been knocked back into Yusuke and they tumbled. It all happened so fast. Yusuke- Fox – fell onto his back and Joker fell on top of him with a curse it was then that Ryuji, who was brainwashed, slammed his metal pipe down onto Akira’s back but since it was followed up with a Dia (curtesy of Mona) it didn’t hurt that much.

The shock of what happened next was enough for him to ignore it anyway. He tried to prop himself up and his hand slipped and he crashed into Fox. Face first. Into his face.

Lips on lips, teeth clacking together, eyes wide in shock staring at each other. It was a spectacle to say the least, and it hurt. Yusuke, oh he did not think it through, and opened his mouth to speak in turn opening Akira’s mouth and they both just stopped shocked.

However the moment was short lived as Morgana snapped at them to get their heads in the game and the battle continued.

Later that night Akira dreamt of Yusuke. What it might be like to kiss him further.

 

 

The third time he actually came out during a hold-up. Makoto, Ryuji and Yusuke were on the team all pointing their guns at the shadow they had knocked down.

“Lend me your power.” Joker had said.

“Oi oi, there’s an order to these things you know.” She shadow huffed, Skull cocked his shotgun. “Jeez, just want to get to know ya better is all.”

“Of course.” Joker replied with ease but still pointing his pistol.

“Well then…how’s school? Ya get detention?” It asked.

“Oh no of course not, I’m an honour student.” Joker replied, the shadow laughed at his sarcasm.

“I used to get it too, for flippin skirts.” The shadow mused Queen frowned wanting to shoot the shadow. “What kind of girls ya like?”

“None.” Joker replied.

“Oi none? You think this is a-”

“I like men.” He interrupted before the shadow got too aggressive.

Everyone faltered, the shadow, his teammates they all just looked at him. He kept his composure but he could feel his cheeks burning.

“Nothin wrong with that.” The shadow replied in the end with a cheeky smile. “Oh! That’s right I don’t belong in this dump! I am thou and thou art I!”

The negotiation ended with Joker taking another mask and the battle ending. He gestured for his team to follow but Skull grabbed his arm.

“Wait hold up, you like dudes?” He asked.

“Elegant as always.” Fox sighed. He knew his friends were good people but on reflex Joker stiffened up.

“Is that an issue?” He asked coldly. The three of them looked at each other.

“No, just a surprise.” Queen replied.

“Though not r…” Fox trailed off chewing on his bottom lip clearly something was on his mind. Skull slung an arm around Joker’s shoulders then leaned in to whisper.

“Well I wasn’t sure when to ask I mean I saw ya kissin Mishima in the toilet.” He said. Joker couldn’t fight off the blush that spread on his face.

“Oh god…” He whispered. “That’s embarrassing, how much were you there for?”

“A hero’s reward huh?” Skull teased. Joker covered his face in his hands.

“Leave me alone.” He whinged. Then after a few more teasing remarks they were back into the game.


	2. A Slip of the Tongue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From Yusuke's PoV, regarding a drunk Akira

The fourth time it happened he was drunk and barely recalls a lot of what happened. For starters it’s not his fault! Ichiko Ohya, that damned reporter (okay she was alright the situation just sucked), they would meet at the Crossroads bar in the Red Light District. Lala would usually make sure Ohya never gave Akira something alcoholic to drink but she had stepped out and her friend took the bar for a moment. Ohya offered to buy him a drink and gave him a menu. He had no idea what half of them were since they didn’t have descriptions but settled on a Long Island Ice Tea as he did like tea.

Thinking back on it the way Ohya chuckled should have tipped him off and if Morgana was there he might have commented when the drinks arrived at their table. Sadly the cat was off visiting Haru.

Akira had never had alcohol before, so he just thought originally when he tasted the beverage that maybe it was an acquired taste not realising it was just the sharpness of the alcohol within it. He continued to sip at it before he realised he was becoming very warm and decided he liked the drink. So he asked Ohya for another.

He had two and then a little bit of whatever Ohya was drinking by the time Lala came back and oh boy. Lala was pissed and Akira was piss drunk. He giggled lying back in the booth red faced and flushed, his glasses hanging out from the front of his V neck shirt and he’s discarded his black jacket somewhere. He could hear Lala yelling at Ohya though it was murmured and he was trying to read a message from the group chat.

 

Yusuke remembered the incident clearly, having been the one to have to pick their leader up. He had been minding his own business in his dorm tapping his sketchbook with a pencil idly. Futaba had been “educating” him on memes. She spammed 54 in quick succession to the group chat. They were all unfortunately saved to his phone now as well. He’d have to go through it later.

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Nobody appreciates art these days! (ꐦ ಠ皿ಠ )

 **Yusuke:** That is a “meme” not art

 **Ryuji:** Memes are an art form Yusuke

 **Yusuke:** Ridiculous

Yusuke saw Akira was typing and wondered what he might say, though he was predicting another onslaught of memes. Their leader enjoyed them, sometimes it was the only way to make him almost cry laughing. Yusuke found it endearing

 **Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** You have to admit memes are pretty amazing

 **Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** Or aMEMEzing If you will

 **Ann:** Pfft

 **Makoto:** I can’t believe you spammed this chat with that many memes in that short time.

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Get like Naruto and believe it Mako-Mako!

 **Makoto:** …Mako-Mako?

 **Ann :** Ahaha that’s cute Futaba-chan

 **Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Wdddassf

 **Ann:** Huh?

 **Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** H I

 **Yusuke:** Hello Akira, are you alright? Did Morgana mess up your typing again?

 **Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** Mona-chan is with me at the moment so no

 **Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Yoouyy Gyaa all

 **Ryuji:** Dude are you okay?

 **Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** mmm so warrmr

 **Ann:** Yep because that’s less worrying

 **Makoto:** Akira are you alright?

 **Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** hfhfee hee eh

 **Makoto:** Futaba you still have that app so you can see through Akira’s phone right?

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Yeah

 **Makoto:** Can you please check on him I’m not sure what’s going on

 **Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** Mona-chan is concerned as well an says to do it.

 **Futaba:** Roger! One sec Mako-Mako!

 **Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Liiiights leehst brig

 **Ann:** This is so…I hope he’s okay

 **Akira:** meeemeeor

Yusuke was more than concerned now. The amount of gibberish Akira was typing out was so out of character. Akira typed properly and formally most of the time. What on earth could be going on? A thousand scenarios were running through his head before his phone went off again.

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Oh my god

 **Makoto:** What? What is it?

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** He’s drunk

 **Makoto:** WHAT?!

 **Ann:** Omg you’re joking

 **Ryuji:** Holy shit dude

 **Yusuke:**  How…

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** the bar owner is arguing in the background, someone was letting him drink.

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Oh he’s waving at the screen. LOL His face is so red

 **Makoto:** We need to send someone to pick him up. Is Boss around?

 **Futaba:** Sojiro’s not in at the moment…. He had to run an errand

 **Makoto:** Shit

 **Ryuji:**!!!

 **Ann:** That’s the first time I’ve ever seen her swear!

 **Makoto:** He’s on probation if anyone finds out he was drunk…I can’t go, nee-chan is home and she’ll get suspicious…she knows about his probation too he might get into trouble.

 **Ann:** I slept over at Shiho’s place it’s too far out for me to get him quickly….

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** I can’t I don’t have a key for the house…

 **Ann:** You don’t have a key for your own house?

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Well I WAS a shut-in

 **Ann:** Ah true…

 **Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** My bodyguards won’t let me out this late…

 **Yusuke:** I can try and sneak out of the dorms

 **Ryuji:** I’m gonna ask my mom and see what she says

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** I’ll keep you updated on what he’s doing! He’s still just giggling to himself and trying to read his phone.

 

Sneaking out of the dorms was not a problem, he had seen a few students doing it. Plus Yusuke did learn some things from being a Phantom Thief. He watched namely just in case he had to get out to meet up with the others. So far it hadn’t been the case. But today was time to put it into practice.

Once he hopped the gate he checked the chat. Futaba had managed to take photos through Akira’s phone to send them. He was red faced and his eyes were glazed over in a daze. He had such a carefree happy smile on his face. The next few were of him making funny faces. He made his way to the bar.

 

Ten minutes later the reporter lady, Ohya if he remembered correctly, was helping the drunk Akira into his arms. Akira giggled as Yusuke led him through the street to the train station.

“Well I didn’t think my night would turn out like this.” He mused. Akira was still giggling while stumbling around. When they got to the train station and sat down on the train, surprise surprise they got some seats, Akira snuggled up to Yusuke’s side.

“Yuuuuusuuukeee.” He drawled and giggled. A few people looked over at them frowning.

“Shh Akira…” Yusuke whispered and Akira gasped holding his hands to his cheeks.

“Your voice…is soooo hot.” He mumbled smiling goofily. “So hot, stupid sexy Yusuke…”

That caused him to blush, left speechless he just said

“Shh, be quiet.” Which earned him more swooning.

They got off the train and Yusuke was helping Akira towards LeBlanc while Akira talked about nonsense. At first it was gibberish about art and then proficiency tools. Yusuke could barely keep up since he kept repeating himself and jumping to different topics. Now as Akira staggered along with Yusuke’s arm around his waist and Akira’s arm around Yusuke’s shoulders the drunk couldn’t help giggling.

“Yusu…Yu…Yuu-chan!” Akira exclaimed suddenly and Yusuke shushed him. It would be bad if they were caught on the final stretch home.

“Yes Akira?” Yusuke asked smoothly. Akira said nothing so Yusuke looked at him to find Akira looking at him with hooded eyes.

“Heeeeey?” Akira drawled “Why are you so attractive?”

“P-pardon?” Yusuke stammered.

“In and out of the metaverse…” Akira mumbled. “Everything you wear….so attractive.”

“Oh?” Yusuke asked trying to fight off the blush rising to his cheeks.

“Mm and your body and your voice.” Akira continued and leaned into Yusuke’s neck. “You’re sooo beautiful…”

“A-A-Akira…where are your keys?” Yusuke stammered while Akira nuzzled his neck. He was becoming ridiculously affectionate.

“Pocket…” Akira sighed happily. Yusuke checked the front pockets of Akira’s jeans and felt nothing. Akira giggled softly. It was ridiculously hot tonight, the weather never forecast humidity. Yet here Yusuke was feeling about a billion degrees hotter than before. He checked Akira’s back pocket earning more giggling and a soft sigh from Akira. Lord give him strength.

Yusuke opened the doors to LeBlanc and helped Akira stumble inside. He locked the door behind him and took Akira upstairs to his bedroom in the attic. He lumped Akira onto the bed who made an excited noise. He flipped over lying on his stomach giggling into the mattress. He took off Akira’s shoes, with much difficulty thanks to Akira kicking around, and sent a message to the chat to say that Akira was safe and at home. He sat down at the end of the bed and sighed. Then Akira pounced on him.

“Wha- Akira?!” Yusuke exclaimed caught off guard as the dark haired boy hugged him close.

“Thiis, is the best dream!” Akira cheered and pulled him back to lie on the bed with him. He snuggled up even closer. “My favourite dream to haaave.”

Wait, to have? Did he dream of this often? Surely…that was a mistake. He must have heard wrong.

“Heeeey Yuu-chaaan.” Akira whined. “Why won’t you push me down like usual? Puuush me down.”

Okay that confirmed it. Yusuke blushed, what on earth was Akira dreaming about him for? G-granted he had no problem with it. But of all the people him? He was odd, as others had called him, and never caught on to social cues or jokes always taking some things to literally. And yet Akira, their fearless, strong, amazing, and cunning leader was having romantic dreams of him?

Caught up in his thoughts he was surprised when Akira flipped them around so Yusuke was pinning him to the bed. His mind was suddenly blank and he opened his mouth to speak to Akira but the other boy had wrapped his arms around Yusuke’s neck and crashed their lips together. Yusuke’s eyes widened while Akira’s closed.

He thought back to the incident in mementos months ago, he had to be lying if he hadn’t occasionally thought about it. The way Akira had blushed after the battle, the way he occasionally touched his lips with a gloved hand, the feeling of his lips…

Akira let out a delighted hum and deepened the kiss. Yusuke’s mind was racing. It was sloppy, an absolute mess that tasted bitter from whatever it was he had drank. Akira’s tongue was sliding around his, poking his teeth, stroking his palate. Drool slipped out from the corner of Akira’s mouth but Yusuke could feel it. He found himself reacting without a second thought, moving his tongue around slowly to try and mimic what Akira had been doing. It was clumsy but Akira _moaned._ It was lewd, it was so lewd the reaction went straight to his groin.  Akira hugged him closer shoving his fingers roughly in Yusuke’s hair as he kissed him. Tongues overlapping, Akira moaning against his lips, teeth occasionally clacking. Then Akira pulled away with a sigh. His head hit the back of his mattress and he panted hard. Oh.

Yusuke wanted to paint this moment. Akira was gorgeous like this.

His face was flushed, his eyes glazed and hooded, lips slick with spit some of which dribbling from the corner of his mouth, hair a mess more so than usual.

“Yusuke…” He breathed. “Yusuke.” He moaned the second time staring up at him expectantly. Yusuke leaned in…

Then his phone went off. He snapped out of whatever spell he was in and pushed off Akira to check it his face flaming.

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Yo! Inari! Stop ruining Akira’s chastity!

 **Makoto:** What?

 **Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** Oh my

 **Ann:** Whoa

 **Ryuji:** Dude…

 **Yusuke:** Wait- it’s not

 **Yusuke:** How do you even know?

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** I can hear through the phone too dumbass

 **Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Akira is pretty wasted though LOL

 **Yusuke:** If anything my chastity is in danger….

 

Yusuke heard light snoring and looked away to see Akira had fallen asleep…with his mouth wide open. He covered his mouth to muffle the sound of his laughter before snapping a picture, tucking Akira into bed, and leaving for the night.

 

 

The next afternoon Yusuke walked into LeBlanc to find everyone there. Aside from Akira. He guessed their leader must still be sleeping.

“Yo Inari!” Futaba greeted then smirked at him “Surprised you came back after ruining Akira’s chastity.” Ryuji and Ann giggled behind their hands.

“I- you- that’s not-” Yusuke spluttered blushing. Makoto sighed.

“Leave him alone Futaba.” She said.

“Roger Queen!” Futaba said with a salute. Yusuke sat with them at the bar. There were no other customers and Sojiro had apparently just decided to step out.

“Where is Akira?” Yusuke asked rubbing the back of his neck.

“He’s asleep still, Morgana went to wake him up.” Ann replied then smirked at him as well. In fact all of them, aside from Makoto, were looking at him sort of leeringly.

“So leader huh?” Ryuji asked. “You like him?”

“U-uhm…” Yusuke mumbled. Thankfully whatever line of questioning they had was interrupted by heavy footsteps. Akira had come down stairs, Morgana trailing after him. He was a mess, hair even messier than last night, clothes from last night askew and he was blinking tiredly at them.

“’s going on?” He mumbled shuffling over.

“We came to see how you were after last night.” Makoto replied. “We were worried.”

“Worried?” Akira asked then yawned. “Why?”

There was silence. Everyone just looked at Akira.

“What? You mean you don’t remember?” Ann asked. Akira frowned and sat down on a stool shaking his head. He put a finger to his chin in thought.

“I remember going to see Ohya….then getting a drink? Not much after that.” Akira replied. “What happened?”

“Oh well you got drunk.” Makoto told him and Akira’s eyes widened.

“Wha-”

“We got Yusuke to pick you up since no one was able to leave slash get to you quick enough.” Haru told him. Yusuke watched Akira as he processed the situation.

“Wait so how did I get home?” He asked.

“I picked you up.” Yusuke said.

“Oh, sorry for the trouble. I wasn’t a handful was I?” He asked sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

“A handful and a half.” Ann said and giggled.

“Huh?” Akira asked.

“Oh Yusuke had his hands full alright.” Ryuji teased.

“Wait that means that something happened…” Akira looked over quickly to Yusuke who looked away and blushed a little. “What happened?”

“Yeah, you tried to deflower Inari.” Futaba supplied helpfully.

“What?!” He exclaimed and looked at Yusuke who was still looking away. “That…wasn’t a dream…”

“Ooh you remember?” Futaba asked grinning slyly. Akira made a weird noise and Yusuke looked back to see Akira hastily covering his face with his hands. The tips of his ears were bright red.

 “Ooo someone’s embarrassed.” Ryuji teased. Akira lifted his head and looked at Yusuke.

“Yusuke I’m so sorry.” He apologised.

“It was quite enjoyable do not worry.” The words flew out of his mouth before he thought about it. Everyone looked at him wide eyed and Yusuke covered his mouth and turned away but stole a glance at Akira, he was bright red. His heart skipped a beat at how adorable he looked flustered like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to write kissing ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	3. Bold Approach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yusuke get's pretty bold, Akira panics

Since the drunk incident Akira and Yusuke avoided the topic of their sloppy make out. Akira was glad because he had no idea what to do with his feelings towards Yusuke. When they hung out it was just normal and still fun so he was glad.

Today Yusuke and Akira were watching a movie. It’s a romance that Yusuke picked namely because he was interested in the art showcased in it. They’re halfway through, the leading lady and the leading man are sharing a touching kiss on screen. These things don’t make Akira nervous.

Usually.

But Yusuke was sitting beside him. His mind jumped back to the time he drunkenly kissed him thinking it was a dream. Then the accidental kiss in Mementos. He chewed on his bottom lip stealing glances at Yusuke. His stomach flipped.

It had been nice, he had made the situation just like a dream he occasionally had. But the alcohol clouded haze blocked him from remembering the full extent of it. And he was disappointed by that. He remembered what Yusuke had said after it. That it was enjoyable. His stomach flipped again thinking of it.

“Akira.” Yusuke’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Yes Yusuke?” Akira replied trying to keep his eyes on the movie now.

“May I kiss you?” He asks and Akira all but falls out of his chair. It’s unfair how Yusuke turns to look at him still composed.

“Y-you want to what?” Akira asked. Yusuke had caught him off guard.

“Kiss you.” Yusuke repeated then cocked his head to the side while Akira blushed. “Sorry, I am aware I have no tact…We do not have –”

“No I want to!” Akira interrupts suddenly sitting closer to Yusuke who smiles, _oh that’s so unfair why is he so gorgeous_ , as a blush blooms on his face. “I-I mean…if that’s okay…”

Yusuke scoots closer and gently caresses the sides of Akira’s face. His pulse skyrockets and he lets out a soft gasp.

“I asked did I not?” Yusuke said softly. His hands are gentle, long fingers slip behind his ears to caress the back of his neck. Akira has to fight off the shiver threatening to wrack his body. The touch was just so gentle.

“O-Okay…” Akira mumbles out shyly. He looks up to meet Yusuke’s eyes and Yusuke is smiling. His mouth opens in a soft ‘oh’ before Yusuke slowly and gently presses a kiss to Akira’s lips.

It’s soft but firm. Akira’s eyes flutter shut after a few moments. Yusuke pulls away but not completely.

“Open your mouth.” It’s said so low, Yusuke’s voice was already deep but this tone makes Akira shiver and he obeys. When his mouth is open Yusuke tilts Akira’s head back and licks straight across his tongue. Then his tongue curls around and under Akira’s while his hands slide along the back of his neck and his shoulders. One more time Yusuke pulls away and Akira whines.

“How does it feel?” He asks. “Good?”

“Yeah…” Akira says blinking slowly.

“Good.” Yusuke says and leans back in kissing him. Akira closes his eyes again. His heart is pounding in chest. Yusuke’s touch is so soft it’s making him tingle, it was like his hands were everywhere. Brushing the nape of his neck with his fingers, sliding down the side of his body. Akira had no idea what to do with his own hands, until Yusuke slid his hands along his arms and guided them up to rest around his neck. They were chest to chest now, Akira was practically in Yusuke’s lap as well. Yusuke pulled away for the third time and Akira felt no shame in whining.

“Beautiful.” Yusuke complimented. “I can feel your heart, are you nervous?”

“Well y-yeah!” Akira replied, he wanted to move back but he felt so comfortable and warm hugging Yusuke like he was.

“Even though the other day you…” Yusuke trailed off a light blush dusting his cheeks. “You were so bold leader.”

“Well I did think it was a dream…” Akira mumbled. “Plus actually doing what I dreamt about is harder than you think.”

“So you dream about me often?” Yusuke is smirking slightly and Akira realises he stuffed up. He leaned in, his mouth next to Akira’s ear. “Tell me what was in your dreams…” He whispered then daringly bit Akira’s ear lobe. Yusuke was doing all kinds of things to him now, he realises now that he’s half hard and panics.

 “L-lets get back to the movie!” Akira says wiggling his way off Yusuke. “Oh I need to go to the toilet I’ll be right back!” before Yusuke can ask he’s run downstairs and into the toilet. He sits down and puts his face in his hands resisting the urge to scream. What did all that mean? He wasn’t still dreaming was he? Lord.

When he goes back to watching the movie. Akira is too flustered to remember the rest of it.

 

 

Yusuke soon becomes the only thing Akira can think about half the time. He’ll be sitting in class thinking how nice it would be if Yusuke went to their school so they could sit near each other or eat lunch together or take the train home together. Along with that whenever he hangs out with Yusuke he finds his artist friend giving him small affectionate touches that he hadn’t before. A hug on greeting with his hands settling comfortably on Akira’s waist, occasional touches to his face, and even holding his hand or hands at random points. He had asked Morgana what it might mean and the only reply he got was that he was an idiot.

So he asked Ryuji about it.

“Dude are you serious?” He asked.

“What do you mean?” Akira asked.

“You’re just really gay for Yusuke.” Ryuji replied. “You like him.” It took Akira a few moments to process what was said before he stared at Ryuji eyes wide and blushing.

“W-wha – I – you- wh” he spluttered. Ryuji took a photo of him and Akira covered his hands with his face. “Why’d you take a photo?”

“You’re always so calm and collected, I’m sending this to the group chat.” Ryuji said.

“Why?!” Akira whined.

“Because it’s cute?” Ryuji replied. Immediately Akira started laughing.

“Oh Ryuji have you fallen for me?” He joked blowing a kiss at his friend who laughed and punched him in the arm. Their phones buzzed in sync.

 

**Ann:** Aww, he’s so flustered

**Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** Hehe all the way up to his ears

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** LOLOLOL not so stoic now!

**Yusuke:** Cute

 

Ryuji looked up just as Akira read the message and got his camera ready. Akira did not disappoint. He covered a face with his hand blushing even darker, Ryuji just kept snapping pictures. Akira looked at him and then crouched up on the floor holding his head and making soft screaming sounds. He send them all the group chat

 

**Ann:** Akira found dead in Miami

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Kill streak!

**Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen

**Yusuke:** I have to agree Haru

**Ryuji:** He’s just quietly screaming now

**Makoto:** Please have mercy on our leader

 

Ryuji put his phone away and looked at Akira who was still softly screaming.

“You just proved my point dude.” He said. “I called you cute and we joked about it, Yusuke called you cute and you effin died.”

“Leave me alone.” Akira mumbled

“You can’t hide from your gay thoughts man.” Ryuji laughed. “Just ask him out already.”

“What if he doesn-” Akira started then trailed off.

“As if he doesn’t, I’ve seen you two.” Ryuji replied. “He did ruin your chastity after all.”

“And there was the kiss at the-” Akira bit his bottom lip.

“Whoa wait what, duuuuuuuude!” Ryuji grinned. “There you go man, just go for it!”

“I dunno.” He mumbled.

“Hey dude no pressure, just go for it when you want.” Ryuji said and leaned back against a wall. “The most importan’ thing is for you to want it ya know?” Akira looked up at him.

“That was surprisingly mature.” He said. Ryuji reached down and started roughly messing with his hair.

“You’re just like that damn sassy cat!” Ryuji kept messing up his hair but Akira just laughed. Maybe Ryuji was right and he should just go for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly thank you guys so much for the kudos and stuff whoa. Was not expecting. This fic is just littered with my headcanons and stuff. I'm just winging this aha


	4. Stepping Backwards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Yusuke gets jealous for no reason, Akira is mad, then Akira is sad

Akira had not acted on what he felt for Yusuke. As much confidence as he had he had to build up more guts for that. So as a distraction he called the team to the hideout so they could go to Mementos. He wanted something else to focus on for a while. They transported into the Metaverse climbing into the Monabus. Akira was driving, Makoto and Futaba were to the right of him while Ann, Ryuji, Haru, and Yusuke were in the back. Futaba was humming away as she did.

“Joker it might be best to turn into that corner there so we can ambush that shadow.” Queen said pointing off to the side.

“There’s a shadow in there as well.” Joker replied being able to see it with his third eye ability. “We’ll take that corner.”

“Good idea.” Queen replied. “Go slow.”

“Of course.” Joker replied. “Do you have the healing items ready?”

“Yes, do you have the assault ready?” Queen asked.

“You, Panther, Noir, and I are up first.” Joker told her as he slowed down to stop.

“Hmm, maybe swap Panther for Skull.” Queen suggested.

“In case we need physical attack skills? Gotcha.” Joker replied. Oracle whistled.

“You’d think you two were married.” She said. Joker and Queen looked confused. What did that even mean? “It’s like this is a road trip and you’re talking about the plan for the day.”

“It’s just tactics discussion?” Queen replied.

“You two just click with that, and being fussy parents over us.” Oracle continued.

“Are we really that parental?” Joker asked.

“Oh yeah man.” Skull commented.

“You’re always taking care of us.” Panther added.

“Not to mention when you go together to buy the best supplies for our missions.” Mona added.

“In and out of the metaverse as well.” Noir said. “I pricked my finger on a thorn and Queen had a bandaid ready for me.”

“Yeah when my hair tie snapped Joker had another one in his bag.” Panther added. “The good kinds too, not the shitty cheap ones.”

“They both patched me up when I got beat by the ex-track team.” Skull added.

“Parental indeed.” Fox added but his tone sounded curt. Joker looked back at him through the rear view mirror concerned until Queen told him to keep his eyes on the road as they almost missed their ambush opportunity.

 

Rarely in battle had Joker been hit with ailments, he got knocked down sometimes since he had multiple persona’s and shared the weaknesses with them and not just with Arsene. He had been distracted. Fox had suddenly started being cold with him, he had no idea why. He was getting worried that he had done something but couldn’t think what that had been. It was making him anxious.

“Joker pay atten-”

Oracle was yelling at him but suddenly he just felt terrified.

Absolutely terrified. He could vaguely hear Oracle saying something about Skull being knocked down. Queen was healing him while Fox was buffing their defences. He looked at the shadow which was laughing and couldn’t help the distressed whine he let out earning shocked looks from his teammates.

He wanted to run, the shadow hit him and he backed away.

Why the hell was that so scary? He went to attack but stopped partway through and just stood back again. Shit shit shit. It was so creepy, he backed away again and got ready to run.

Noir swapped with Skull but Joker bolted away. All that was on his mind was running. So he just kept running, managing to outrun a few shadows along his way.

He had no idea where he ended up but he was huddled up with his knees to his chest on top of a ledge.

It was quiet now. But that didn’t last long.

His head was flooded with thoughts. Doubt, dread, fear. Now that there wasn’t something tangible to be afraid of his mind jumped to his anxieties.

What if he was doing the wrong thing? What if he really was a thug like the kids in his class had said? Why the hell did he even think he could lead them?

He rocked back and forth a little, mumbling into his knees.

What if he was a failure of a leader? What if he couldn’t save everyone? What was he even doing?

He chewed on his bottom lip clenching his fists.

Why was he chosen? Surely there were others more capable than him.

Why did they trust him?

_Why would Yusuke ever feel the same way?_

His eyes stung, he was about to cry.

“Stupid stupid stupid.” He mumbled to himself biting into his arm. “He could never…”

“Joker!” Joker jumped scrambling further back on the ledge to keep himself hidden. Fox jumped onto the ledge and slid his mask up looking relieved. “I’m so glad I found you. Please take this.”

Joker had no idea why he started to cry but it startled Fox who stopped still for a moment before hugging him. Joker settled in his lap hugging him back closely.

“Shh, shh it’s okay.” He cooed. Joker sniffled. “Take this now Joker, it’ll help.” Fox handed him a bottle and Joker downed it. He sniffled for a few moments wiping his tears on his arm then instantly the fear was knocked out of him. Why did he even start crying?

“Oh…” He said and pulled away to look at Fox. “Oh wow. That’s embarrassing.”

“We’ve suffered those ailments before, it’s nothing new.” Fox replied. “If you can recall, Skull had a moment where he clung to Queen’s leg for dear life under the same affliction.”

“I ran away.” Joker dragged a hand down his face. “And you caught me crying, mortifying.”

“It’s alright, it plays on our fears after all.” Fox consoled his hand on the small of Joker’s back. It was oddly comforting, even without the ailment.

“Still, ahh how pathetic.” Joker replied scratching the back of his neck with a smile. Fox took his face in his hands and glared at him. “U-uh-”

“You are not pathetic.” He said firmly. “Don’t ever talk down on yourself like that. You are wonderful.” Joker had no idea what to say and just blushed.

“W-we should probably get back to the others. Queen is probably growing grey hairs.” Joker joked looking off to the side, honestly the two of them were pretty parental. They even mummed each other. Fox clicked his tongue and glared at Joker. “Wha-”

“Do you want to be marital with Queen?” He asked coldly and Joker blinked at him surprised. What was he even suggesting? He knew Joker was gay.

“Fox what is wrong with you?” Joker asked. “You know I’m gay.” But as he opened his mouth to say something the others found them.

“Oh thank god you found him!” Panther called.

“Forget it, it’s my own problem.” Fox grumbled.

“We were looking everywhere for you man!” Skull added. Fox clicked his tongue again but jumped down. Joker sat confused for a little bit and then jumped down.

“Ah yeah…sorry?” He said sheepishly. “That was pathetic wasn’t it?” Queen punched his arm.

“Nonsense Joker, it was just concerning.” She said. From his peripheral vision he could see Fox still looked pretty upset.

“Let’s get back on track.” Mona said turning into a bus once more. They all piled in the same way they had been before.

 

After a good few hours of completing requests and exploring Mementos Joker called it quits for the day. They got ready to exit the Metaverse when Noir pulled him aside.

“Hey leader, you should talk with Yusuke.” She said.

“He seems upset with me.” Joker replied.

“He’s just jealous, the one he likes was being paired up with another after all.” Noir said with a giggle. Joker’s pace quickened and he tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

“L-likes huh?” He stammered, Noir giggled again. “Well I don’t, I don’t even think he wants to talk about it.”

“Then just be somewhat affectionate with him? Maybe he feels neglected?” Noir suggested shrugging a little. Joker hummed.

“We’re ready Joker!” Oracle called. Joker walked over phone in hand, his heart hammering in his chest as he walked by and casually took Fox’s hand in his.

“Alright then.” Joker said hitting the app. The world around them warped and they were back at the hideout.

Akira looked down at his feet and adjusted his glasses. Yusuke was holding his hand still but it was so nerve wracking. They’ve made out before he shouldn’t be this nervous about hand holding. Thankfully nobody said anything, maybe because they saw how red he was getting or because they knew Yusuke had been pretty upset.

“Let’s head home.” Morgana meowed. The others moved off but Akira stopped Yusuke.

“Wait. Are you alright?” He asked. “You seemed a bit pissed.”

“Oh.” Yusuke replied. “Do not trouble yourself with it. It was something on my part.” He didn’t want to leave it be though. He licked his lips and tried again.

“You uh…didn’t seem to like the insinuation that Makoto and I-”

“It’s nothing.” He ground out interrupting Akira.

“Yusuke it’s bothering you.” He said softly and rubbed the back of his hand. “There’s no chance of me dating Makoto, while we did fake date- ah…whoops.” That was the wrong thing to say.

“Fake date?” Yusuke asked narrowing his eyes. “How do you fake date someone?”

“We were faking because Makoto was concerned about her friend was all! Her friend agreed to let Makoto meet him if we did a double date. All acting I swear!” Akira said hurriedly. “I have someone that I …. That I like.” He blushed and laced his fingers with Yusuke. Yusuke didn’t say anything so Akira peeked up at him through his bangs. Yusuke looked livid.

“Who?” He seethed. Akira blanked.

“Huh?” He said dumbly. Surely he wasn’t serious.

“Oh my god.” He heard Ann whisper. He turned and saw they were all watching but they pretended they weren’t looking away when he looked over at them.

“Is it a student at your school?” Yusuke asked. He was honestly too shocked to even say anything. “Fine, don’t tell me.” He took his hand back and stalked off. Akira just stared at him dumbfounded. Ryuji whistled.

“And I thought you were dumb.” He said.

“Big talk coming from you Ryuji.” Morgana teased. They started to argue and Akira just stared after Yusuke’s retreating form. What the hell?

“Is he stupid?” Akira exclaimed shocking the group. “Is he actually stupid? Why would I make out with someone if I didn’t like them? That dense motherfucker!”

“Whoa…” Ryuji breathed surprised at the outburst.

“A-Akira calm down.” Ann said patting his back.

“No, whoa how dense can you be?!” Akira fumed. “Do I need to wear an ‘I love Yusuke Kitagawa’ shirt everywhere or something?”

“Oh, he’s lost it.” Futaba commented.

“I will go and get it custom made right fucking now I swear to god.” Akira stomped his foot.

“Calm down Akira.” Haru said firmly. “We just need to take action.”

“Oh I will take action, I’ll smooch that fucking idiocy away.” Akira grumbled.

“Okay, first of all you need to calm down before you get nasty.” Futaba interjected. “Secondly how are you going to do anything when he makes you flustered?”

“H-he doesn’t make me flustered!” Akira argued stammering.

“That is the biggest lie you have ever told.” Makoto said.

“Yeah you even stuttered man.” Ryuji added.

“Not helping.” Akira huffed.

“Now now, he might realise he’s being an idiot.” Morgana cut in. “Let’s all just go home for now.” Akira was still slightly fuming but he agreed and headed home with Morgana. As he made his way home his anger faded and was replaced with anxiety. Yusuke did like him right? It seemed like he did…what if he was making a fuss for nothing.

“Hey.” Morgana said breaking him out from his thoughts.

“Yeah?” He asked.

“Yusuke was probably just jealous.” The cat said. Akira sighed. “You just need to make him realise it’s just him you have your eyes set on.”

“Thanks Morgana.” He mumbled and pet the top of Morgana’s head.

But that night he couldn’t shake the anxiety. He tossed and turned trying to get to sleep. Morgana pressed a paw to his forehead and Akira opened his eyes to look up at the cat.

“Akira…it won’t be like what you told me before.” Morgana said softly. “It’s not your hometown, your friends wouldn’t treat you like those others did.”

“I…” Akira stopped. He had no idea what to say to that. He knew his friends were cool with it…but anxiety was a persistent bitch.

“It bothers you, I know.” Morgana bumped Akira’s forehead with his. “It’ll be alright.” Morgana curled up near him and purred, it lulled Akira to sleep.

 

 

Makoto had sent Yusuke a message about her and Akira fake dating. She had gotten a curt response so she told Akira who guessed that meant he was still pissed. Which ended up being true because every invitation Akira made Yusuke rejected.

Three days later at lunch he sat down with Ann, Makoto, Ryuji, and Haru trying to think of what to do.

“The situation has been explained but how do I make him understand?” He asked.

“That’s hard…” Makoto mumbled.

“What if you took over some food in good faith?” Haru suggested. “You could take over some of the tomatoes we’re growing. They’re ready.”

“That might work. I’ll bring some snacks too. I don’t think he’ll resit free food.” Akira said nodding then sighed sadly.

“You did nothing wrong dude, it’s his issue.” Ryuji said.

“No, I mean I guess I have been giving him mixed signals…” Akira sighed.

“What do you mean?” Ann asked.

“W-well…the kissing…” Akira said chewing his bottom lip.

“Go on.” Makoto said.

“W-well…after the drunk incident he came over to my place and while we were watching a movie he asked to kiss me.” Akira rubbed the back of his neck. “So we kissed for a bit. But I panicked and set us back onto the movie.”

“What about the outings afterwards? I’ve seen you hold hands in Shibuya.” Makoto asked.

“W-well I guess he got bolder with displays of affection?” Akira mumbled. “I got shyer…”

“Still are pretty shy about it.” Ryuji added. “The dude likes you man.”

“He’s insanely jealous right now is all, and dense.” Ann said.

“When you held hands with him in the metaverse his tail was wagging.” Haru giggled.

“Yeah you know what, I’ll do it. I’ll take the stuff over and we’re going to talk about our feelings like adults!” Akira exclaimed. The group cheered him on. Now to put his plan into action.

 

After school Haru came up to him with tomatoes then took Morgana so Akira and Yusuke would be alone, Akira thanked her and went to a few stores for snacks but also to get bread and butter as well as cheese so Yusuke could make sandwiches with the tomatoes. He grabbed the snacks that Yusuke liked and headed over to Kosei.

He walked through the school gates to reception, they pointed him to the direction of the dorms and he made his way over rehearsing what he might say in his head.

_‘I have to make sure I tell him I like him.’_ He thought.

“Is that a Shujin student?” He heard someone ask. However he kept going. He was on a mission.

_‘It’s probably been bothering him all week.’_ Akira continued in his head.

“Oh! that’s that delinquent isn’t it?” He heard someone say. “I wonder what that scum doing here?” He pressed on, it was nothing new. People talked about him like that at school. Annoying but whatever.

“Oh, wow I can’t believe they let him through reception.” A jab but he wasn’t going to be disheartened. He was here to see Yusuke.

“He’s seriously walking around here like he owns the place, how scary.”

“Let’s go, before he does something.”

“Yikes, honestly why did he even get enrolled at Shujin in the first place?”

“I wonder what poor sucker has to deal with him.” That last comment hurt. He reached the gate to the dorms but stopped. Yusuke’s room was number 17. He walked in and there were more whispers. The foyer was a large area, there were heaps of students.

Suddenly it felt like all eyes were on him. The scrutiny made his skin crawl. He just had to make it to Yusuke’s room, then he’d be away from them.

“Do you think we should call the cops?”

“Who is he even here for?”

“I bet it’s Yusuke, he’s a weirdo.”

“Even so isn’t that awful?”

“He’s probably threatening him.”

Upstairs on the left. All he had to do was get upstairs. He went towards the stairs.

“Security should have stopped him at the gate.”

“Ugh gross.”

“Why is he even here?”

Akira stopped. Their voices seemed so loud. People talked about him at school like that but now these people were mentioning Yusuke. How much would a simple visit impact Yusuke? Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he should leave.

He turned to leave the dorms but saw Yusuke enter them.

“Ah, Akira.” He said slowly.

“H-hi…” He stammered lamely. Yusuke walked over to him and glanced at the shopping bags. “Ah, these are for you…Haru and I grew some tomatoes and I bought some bread and cheese and butter so you could make some sandwiches…”

“Thoughtful as always. Thank you.” Yusuke said smiling as he took the bags from Akira. After the last bag he stopped and held Akira’s hand gently between his own. The students were staring holes into the back of his head, or at least that’s what it felt like.

A whisper, he can barely make it out but there were more.

“Wha-”

“Akira…I must apologise.” Yusuke interrupted him. “The other day…and ignoring you the past few days it was childish of me. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay.” Akira replied, his throat felt tight. Yusuke shifted and put his hand against Akira’s cheek. Akira felt panic clawing at him. There were too many people, they were all looking at them, gossip was already most likely working its way through the school. Just like last time.

“Akira…I-”

“W-well I’ve got an errand to run, so I’ll see you another time.” He interrupted quickly and stepped back a little. He goes to walk away but Yusuke grabs his wrist.

“Wait.” Akira turns to him slightly, everyone’s gaze feels piercing now. “Are…are you sure everything is okay between us?”

“Of course.” He forces himself to smile naturally. It feels wrong. “We’re friends after all. See you.” He pulls away and walks off.

**_He couldn’t do it._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whomp there it is. Honestly I love how you can overhear such crappy things said about the protag from other students. It probs gets to Akira sometimes tbh.   
> I've got plans for this but I'm not sure how far I'll go? I'll start putting in when it gets to late game spoilers before each chapter and in the tags though.


	5. Step Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I have no idea what I'm naming these chapters? Granted at any given time just know I have no idea what I'm doing. Peace <3

After meeting with Akira Yusuke was sure they had fixed things. Though he couldn’t help feeling that that wasn’t the case at all. Akira still hung out with him on a regular basis but there was something strange in his mannerisms. They were stiff, like he was on guard or something. The rest of the group seemed to notice something but no one said anything after all Akira continued to lead them as he always did without fault.

Yusuke felt incredibly guilty. He hadn’t expected to get so jealous. Over something that would never be! He had apologised to Makoto of course though she laughed about his honesty. He couldn’t recall a time where he had been so passionately jealous of anything or anyone really. He should have thought more about it before reacting. He should ha- Oh what was done was done. There was no point dwelling on it. He had to move forward to fix this.

They had taken up quite a few mementos requests, finishing them stretched over a couple of days. Joker seemed absolutely focused then. He radiated confidence and leadership, Yusuke spent many nights trying to catch his figure in his sketchbooks. Maybe he should ask Akira to model one day if they had time.

But again once they were out of the metaverse and Akira was hanging out with him he was stiff. The smile he wore didn’t quite reach his eyes and seemed hollow. Something was wrong. How would he fix this?

Yusuke decided to go to Shujin, he awkwardly walked into the front reception area. He had never visited another school before. Students were staring, some whispering but he paid them no more than a glance. Who should he even speak to? Ryuji seemed to be close with Akira, but so did Haru and Makoto. Ann was in his class as well though so she would have noticed his change in demeanour.

He took a visitors pass from the office and headed up towards the second year classes. Everyone looked at him in passing. Shujin students were awfully nosy.

He stopped in the middle of the hallway. He had no idea what class Ann and Akira were in. He peeked into each classroom to try and find Ann. So far he was unsuccessful. As he came towards the second block of classes he saw Ryuji.

“Oi Yusuke whatcha doin here?” He called out loudly.

“Hello Ryuji.” Yusuke greeted and walked over to him. People started whispering again. A bunch of gossips. “I’m here to see Ann, I cannot remember which class she is in however.”

“Not Akira?” Ryuji asked then rubbed the back of his neck. “You noticed it too yeah, he’s off.”

“I think there might be a misunderstanding between us. I wish to seek advice on how I should fix this.” Yusuke said.

“Yeah- ah wait duck here for a second.” Ryuji said pulling him, well more yanking him around to hide in a classroom. The students looked alarmed but they go on packing their things. Before Yusuke is able to come out and question he hears Ryuji talking. “Oh hey Akira, headed home?”

“I’m headed to work today, I need a bit more money for a few supplies.” Akira says.

“Man you work too hard…” Ryuji sighs. “Take it easy when you get home dude.”

“Gotta pay the bills somehow Ryuji!” Akira jokes. “See ya.”

Yusuke sees him pass the classroom he’s in then pokes his head out to watch him walk away.

“Uwah, he’s still so scary.” He hears a student say. Scary? Ridiculous. Akira was gentle.

“Did you hear him talking to Sakamoto? Jeez…” Yusuke turns to say something back to the students but Ryuji is pulling him out of the classroom. He tries to go back but Ryuji just pulls him along the hall.

“Ryuji let go, let me give them a piece of my mind.” He huffs.

“Dude just let it go, it makes it worse.” Ryuji sighed. “He’s the smartest in the year level but people still think he’s some sorta thug.”

“Ridiculous.” Yusuke spits.

“Yeah.” Ryuji agrees. “But come on let’s get Ann, oh Makoto and Haru as well.”

“Ah…this is turning into a group conference.” He realised. Ryuji just grinned at him.

 

They gathered Makoto, Haru, and Ann and went up to the roof of the school.

“Ahem so uh the reason we’re all here today…” Ryuji started like he was leading some sort of meeting.

“What should I do?” Yusuke asked interrupting him. “Everything is so different now, he feels distant…”

“Yusuke…” Makoto trailed off.

“To be fair you did say something really dumb.” Ann said bluntly. This was news to him.

“I did?” He asked.

“You’re so dense.” Ann sighed. “Anyway putting that aside how do you feel for Akira anyway?”

“That’s obvious I…” Yusuke trailed off.

They were friends, yet Akira calling them such the other day had hurt. He was friends with everyone in the group but with Akira it was different. Granted the kisses and touches shared had been a bout of curiosity for him…no that wasn’t it.

He enjoyed the way it made his heart race to touch Akira that way. The sight of him blushing profusely was adorable and committed to memory, the cardinal desire to do more was overwhelming. He couldn’t picture himself doing that with any of the other members of their group. But what did he want from Akira? There was no denying Akira was special to him…but why?

“Dude…are you serious?” Ryuji asked fixing him with an exasperated stare.

“I didn’t think that would be such a hard question to answer…” Yusuke admitted.

“Well what are we to you?” Haru asked.

“You’re my friends.” He answered easily.

“And Akira?” Makoto asked.

“He’s...my friend as well…” Yusuke trailed off. “But it’s different...” He hadn’t thought on it much. It just felt right. Then he recalled when he blew up at him after their trip to Mementos. Akira had someone he liked. “Akira has someone he likes.”

“Well…yeah.” Ryuji said. The confirmation makes his gut twist.

“Then…” Then they would have to stop whatever it was they had been doing before for good. Sure lately Akira had been a bit cold in that respect. Maybe it was because he had someone he liked. It bothered him so much. To think he had been jealous over Makoto when there was nothing between them…and now if Akira truly found someone he liked and if they returned his feelings what did that mean for him?

“Come on Yusuke, talk to us. What’s going through your head?” Ann asked breaking him from his thoughts.

“Akira likes someone…” He repeated. “I’m jealous.”

“Why?” Ann asked.

“Because I…” Yusuke swallowed. “I think I may be romantically attracted to Akira.”

“YOU THINK?!” Ryuji blew up startling him. He jumped back in shock.

“W-what?” Yusuke stammered.

“Dude are you that- oh my god.” Ryuji covered his face with his hands.

“Anyone could see that a mile away Yusuke.” Ann said, Yusuke blushed and tucked some hair behind his ears.

“O-oh really?” He asked, they all replied at the same time.

“Yeah.”

“It was very obvious.”

“Are you only realising now?”

“You’d have to be blind not to see it.”

Yusuke found himself laughing nervously. It seems he was a bit slow on the uptake. Then he remembered again. Akira had someone he liked. He sighed sadly.

“Akira has someone he likes.” He said for the third time.

“Yeah it’s-” Ann slapped her hand over Ryuji’s mouth.

“Why don’t you talk with him?” Makoto said smiling at him.

“What would the point of that be if he likes someone else?” He asked.

“Do you really want to let it end that way?” Haru asked. “Holding onto one sided love is painful. What if he felt the same?”

“He-”

“You don’t know who he likes.” Haru continued. “What if it was you?”

“What if it wasn’t?” He countered. “Akira is…he’s amazing. There are other better people for him…I know I am quite strange.”

“There’s no pressure Yusuke. We’re just saying that you should go for it.” Makoto said.

“I will…think about it more.” Yusuke said slowly.

“That’s all you need to do. Be sure of what you want, you might regret it if you don’t confess. Or alternatively…” Haru took Makoto’s hand in her own smiling. “Things might go well for you.” Makoto blushed and spluttered. And all of them turned to look at the pair realising at the same time what Haru was insinuating.

“Oh…wait you two?” Ryuji said dumbly. “Since when?!”

“Congratulations!” Ann cheered.

“W-we were going to uh…come out…we just didn’t have good timing…” Makoto trailed off blushing still.

“I’m sorry if this was an inopportune time…” Haru said blushing herself. “Akira gave us both the push we needed.”

“Ann as well…” Makoto said smiling. They were adorable. He felt a sting of jealousy. Perhaps he and Akira could be like that…

“That’s…I am happy for you.” Yusuke said smiling at the pair. “I…okay, may I ask you all for advice again at a later date?”

“Of course man.” Ryuji said. “Anytime.” The others nodded.

“Thank you.” He said.

 

The next few days Yusuke just thought about Akira. He was extra conscious of their leader when they hung out. He still seemed strained with his actions. But he knew what he wanted now.

 

 

Akira wasn’t surprised when Yusuke showed up unannounced for coffee at LeBlanc. Though it had been a while. Akira hadn’t had time to put on a mask for him. Truth be told he was avoiding hanging with Yusuke without planning ahead. He couldn’t deny that he liked Yusuke. Akira was just incredibly self-conscious now.

“Sorry for coming unannounced.” Yusuke apologised as they came up to his room in the attic.

“No worries Yusuke, it was just a surprise.” Akira laughed it off. Yusuke sat down on the couch. They put on a movie.

Yusuke was being strange today. He hadn’t said anything during the movie so far. Usually he had all sorts of things to say, things about the costume design or about the cinematography. But he was ridiculously quiet. It didn’t help Akira’s nerves. He felt even more conscious of the boy next to him. Plus from this angle he could see Yusuke as well as the movie. He changed his focus from the movie to the boy sitting next to him.

Yusuke was amazingly gorgeous, it was no wonder they would get stopped by girls so often who wouldn’t be attracted to him? He was beautiful. He realised he was staring too long but Yusuke hadn’t noticed so it was fine.

No. It wasn’t fine.

He wasn’t supposed to be doing this. Yusuke was better off not knowing how he felt. People already gossiped about him at school. He didn’t need Akira giving him another reason to be gossiped about.

Still…

He remembered back to when they kissed while watching a movie. He would be lying if he said he didn’t want Yusuke to kiss him again.

“Akira.” Yusuke said suddenly. He sounded sad. “I need to speak with you.”

“Is something wrong? Are you okay?” Akira asked quickly. He’d been too caught up in his thoughts. Something was troubling Yusuke and Akira was busy fretting over something else. Yusuke laughed then smiled at him.

“Still so caring.” He said, Akira found himself blushing. “I just…”

“What is it?” Akira asked. Yusuke turned to him shifting a little closer. “Yusuke what-”

“I like you.” He said. Akira stared at him shocked but before he could say anything Yusuke went on. “I like you so much Akira. You’re all that I think of, I…”

“Yusuke…”

“I know lately something’s been on your mind. You’ve been distant with me.” Yusuke continued. “I started to think that it might be because you like someone else and I resigned myself to let you be happy and keep my selfish feelings to myself. But I can’t in the end. I want to hold onto the chance that you might feel the same. When we kissed, when you let me hold hands and hug you…it made me incredibly happy. It took me a while to figure out the cause as to why…but I know it’s because I like you Akira.”

Akira stared at Yusuke for a few moments. Part of him was overjoyed, even after giving him the cold shoulder Yusuke still cared for him and understood him. He wanted to jump for joy.

But the other part of him was apprehensive. His reputation was already awful, he didn’t want to drag Yusuke down with him. As accepting as their friends were about their sexualities society would never accept them. Akira could put up with this, but they would be saying things about Yusuke and not just him.

“I…” Akira stopped. What should he even say? He liked Yusuke as well. Yusuke was pouring his heart out to him, could he lie and say he wasn’t interested in him? …No. It was unfair to do that. Yusuke was amazingly brave for confessing, and he knew he wasn’t a bad person and would most likely treasure Akira but…

“You don’t have to answer now if yo-”

“At my old school I confessed to an upperclassman of mine.” He blurted out. Yusuke blinked slowly but gestured for him to continue. “He… he was always nice to me, we eventually became friends and then I realised I fell for him. He was graduating soon so I decided that I wanted to confess.”

His heart was thumping loudly in his chest and he looked up to gauge Yusuke’s reaction but he was just listening patiently. He seemed to sense Akira was getting worked up and gently took his hand. It helped him continue.

“After I confessed he told everyone. I lived in a town where everyone knew everyone and soon school became hell. Everyone talked about me behind my back, I was bullied relentlessly.” Akira’s hands shook and he started to feel embarrassed unloading all of this. “My parents…my relationship with them was strained but this just made it worse.”

“How awful-”

“Coming here was a godsend.” He interrupted again. “Sure people whispered about me but it was for my criminal record which was fine. I knew what I did was right. But that day I went to your dorms…they knew as well and they…”

“What?” Yusuke asked patiently.

“I realised if I told you how I felt and we started to date…how much it would impact your social standing. I panicked.” He didn’t even realise he was crying until Yusuke wiped away his tears with his thumbs. “You already had it bad being labelled after Madarame’s incident. How would it help your art to be blacklisted like this? Then people saw you hanging with us, the troubled kids from Shujin a-”

“Shh…” Yusuke pressed a finger to his lips hushing him. “I don’t care what the world thinks, I just want you. I want to be with you.” Yusuke continued to wipe away his tears. “I know you care what people will say about me, I care about what others say about you as well. Ryuji had to stop me from starting an argument with some Shujin students when I heard what they said about you. But I don’t care. I just want to be with you.”

“Yusuke…” Akira trailed off. “I…I like you, I want to be with you too. I want to be selfish and be with you.” The smile that bloomed on Yusuke’s face was gorgeous, Akira wanted a photo of that to keep forever. Pure happiness. Yusuke hugged him close and Akira sniffled for a bit. Then he was suddenly hit with embarrassment for crying _again_ in front of Yusuke. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

“You know, even your crying face is beautiful.” Yusuke said. Akira choked on a laugh.

“My eyes are puffy and red, my face is sticky from tears, my face itself is red as well. How is that pretty?” He asked laughing slightly. “Look my eyelashes are sticking together.”

“I just, like the raw emotion on your face. You are quite stoic at times.” Yusuke confessed.

“That’s rich coming from you.” Akira laughed.

“I’m glad it got you laughing.” Yusuke chuckled. “Such a wonderful sound.”

“Y-You’re ridiculously honest.” Akira mumbled blushing. “Are you going to compliment me like this all the time?”

“Of course, how could I not tell you all the ways I find you wonderful? Especially when your face goes a delightful shade of red.” Yusuke said still smiling. Jeez. Akira pinched Yusuke’s cheek for lack of a better response. Yusuke just laughed settling his hands around Akira’s waist. It felt so _great._ He was almost jumpy with how excited he was. Yusuke liked him, anxiety and all. “Beautiful.”

“Huh?” Akira asked.

“Your smile.” Yusuke replied. Oh, he hadn’t realised he had been smiling. “Akira?”

“Yes?”

“Can I kiss you?” He asked. Akira couldn’t help laughing again.

“Talk about a repeat performance.” Akira snickered.

“Perhaps we could repeat the finale?” Yusuke suggested leaning in so they were nose to nose. For a second Akira had no idea what he meant. Then he remembered.

Teeth on his ear, Yusuke’s voice low and sultry asking him to tell him about his dream.

“M-maybe another time.” Akira stammered. Yusuke just smiled. God the look in his eyes was making Akira’s heart melt. Just the absolute adoration he held in his gaze.

Akira closed his eyes and turned his head slightly to kiss Yusuke. He held it for a moment before kissing the corner of his mouth, then his cheek, then his lips again. Akira ran his fingers gently through Yusuke’s hair. Yusuke moved to deepen the kiss but Akira pulled back earning a displeased hum from his boyfriend.

_Boyfriend._

The word itself was making him giddy.

“Let me explore this time.” He whispered smiling. “Then you can have your turn.”

“As you wish.” Yusuke breathed. Akira smoothed his hands down Yusuke’s sides then straddled him properly. He guided Yusuke’s hands to his waist then kissed him on the lips again. Next he kissed his chin bringing his hands up to rest on Yusuke’s shoulders. He peppered kisses along the side of Yusuke’s jaw and teasingly but gently bites Yusuke’s ear lobe when he reaches it. Yusuke let out a soft huff, it didn’t sound like displeasure though.

“You are so gentle, how are you not brimming with excitement?” Yusuke asked.

“Oh I am, I want to kiss every inch of you.” Akira hummed, wait that sounded a bit like an innuendo. Ah whatever.  “You’ll just have to sit and be patient.”

“I want to taste you.” Yusuke threw him off guard. Akira tentatively licks Yusuke’s bottom lip and Yusuke’s tongue darts out to swipe along his. Yusuke opens his eyes and pulls Akira closer kissing him. He deepens the kiss immediately tongue sliding along Akira’s roughly. Yusuke’s pulling back then he bites Akira’s bottom lip gently and tugs before releasing it and going in for another lewd kiss.

It’s ridiculous how great it feels. Then Yusuke runs his fingers through Akira’s hair firmly, the feeling of his fingernails scraping against his scalp makes Akira shiver in combination with the kiss. Yusuke pulls away again and two things happen.

Akira moans softly.

Ryuji comes up the stairs with Morgana.

“Holy shit.” Ryuji whispered and the two snap to look at him faces flaming. “Ah so I uh…see things worked out.”

“I told you they might need more time.” Morgana huffed.

“Yeah we’ll just uh…yeah. Bye!” Ryuji scoops Morgana up and runs downstairs. Akira and Yusuke just looked at each other then broke out laughing.

Akira smiled giddly at Yusuke. Mutual feelings felt great.


	6. Perceptive Detective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akechi joins the battle! *insert some super smash bros music or some shit idek*
> 
> We're going almost full canon-divergence from here! 
> 
> In which Haru and Akira are great, the maid cafe is not a huge failure, and I surprise myself by writing a 7300 word chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, life got a bit busy. I didn't mean to write this much but here we are!

Things were going pretty great. They had made great time on their run of Haru’s father’s palace, they had done well with their requests in Mementos, and Akira was able to go on dates with Yusuke having them become closer than before.

Then it went to shit.

Haru’s father had a mental shutdown. As awful as her father had been he didn’t deserve that. The memory of Haru sobbing uncontrollably while she tried to reach someone about her father while Makoto rubbed small circles into her back was burned into his mind forever. The comments on the Phan-site were nothing good either. Morgana had to force him to put his phone away at night to stop him from reading the comments.

They had done everything right. What had happened?

Even though it wasn’t their fault Akira still felt like he was to blame. Maybe if they had searched a little more he could have saved Haru’s father.

The team decided to play it safe and lay low for a while. Living as a normal student was hard especially since everyone was whispering about him both knowingly an unknowingly. He walks into class hearing whispers about him being a ‘thug’ a ‘criminal’ and ‘scum’. He walks the hallways hearing how the phantom thieves are a ‘menace to society’ and how they are ‘murdering pieces of shit’. It’s more than enough to leave him dispirited.

He finds comfort hanging out with Haru during the day, they both go up to the roof during lunch and check on the plants they’re growing and chat idly about their respective partners or just sit in silence. Both of them are hurting.

“I know it’s not your fault leader.” Haru says one day looking up to the sky, her fluffy hair blowing gently in the breeze. “We did everything right.”

“I know.” Akira admits. “But I keep thinking I should have done more.”

“As do I…” Haru said sadly. “But we’re here now.”

“We have to face the reality of everything.” He nodded. She sighs and leans her head on Akira’s shoulder, in turn he rests his head against hers.

“We’ll get the person who did it.” Haru says darkly. “The person who takes lives so carelessly. Who slanders all the good you’ve done.”

“The downtime between targets is hard.” Akira whispers. “It leaves time for doubt. Especially with the comments going around.”

“Ignore them.” Haru says firmly. “There is no way you could do anything like that to anyone Akira. Morgana told me you’ve been reading the comments late into the night.”

“That snitch.” Akira laughs.

“It’s been hard on you leader. But please, don’t beat yourself up about it.” Haru wraps an arm around his waist in a hug. “It’s going to be hard but we’ll keep moving forward.”

“Here I was hoping to comfort you, instead you’ve been comforting me.” Akira laughs wrapping his arm around Haru’s shoulders.

“No you have been helping me.” Haru tells him. “Everyone asks me day in and day out about my father…you’re the only one who lets me talk about other things. You ask but you don’t keep at it and you try to joke with me. Or even we just sit and don’t talk but just garden. It’s been very helpful. Thank you Akira.”

“Jeez now you’re making me feel all mushy.” Akira joked. “But no, thank you. How are things with Makoto?”

“She’s so busy with the prep for the cultural festival.” Haru sighed. “She’s so stressed, I think her home life is stressing her out as well. I’m going to invite her for a sleepover so she can relax for a little. How are things with Yusuke?”

“He’s painted so much I’m honestly not sure if he has any shirts not covered in paint now.” Akira replied. “I visited him at the dorms and his walls were covered with sketches torn out from his sketchbook. A wall of inspiration he called it. I’m uh, modelling for him sometime soon? Should be interesting.”

“Try not to get too distracted.” Haru teased. “Oh right, what is your class doing for the cultural festival?”

“A maid café.” Akira replied. “Ann’s getting votes on doing a reverse one, where the boys where the maid uniforms and the girls wear butler suits. What about your class?”

“That sounds fantastic!” Haru clapped. “You’ll look wonderful in it. My class hasn’t decided what we’re doing yet.”

“I mean what couldn’t I pull off? Have you seen me? I’m radiant!” Akira stuck his leg up and Haru hummed a smile wobbling on her lips.

“I mean…you probably couldn’t pull off Yusuke’s clothes. Seeing as you get so embarrassed.” She said. Akira blushed bright red and Haru started laughing so hard she snorted then laughed even harder while Akira sulked.

“You’re mean Haru, I take back every nice thing I’ve said about you.” He huffed. “How dare you tease your leader like this?” Haru only laughed harder but patted his back sympathetically.

“How do you feel about wearing girls clothes?” Haru asked rubbing her cheeks, they were sore from smiling so much.

“As long as the outfit doesn’t clash I don’t mind…but going out in public is a bit…” Akira trailed off. “It gives me anxiety when people stare…”

“Then will the festival be alright?” Haru asked concerned.

“All the guys will be in maid outfits so I don’t mind it then. But if I were walking around by myself in dresses or skirts…I don’t look ‘female’ so they’ll stare and whisper. You get me?” Akira mumbled.

“Yeah, I understand.” Haru sighed. “If you’re not okay with it let me know, I’ll have a word to Ann if she seems to be too pushy. I know it’s hard to turn her down when she gets excited.”

“She’s so pumped.” Akira laughed. “I am looking forward to the cultural festival, the one I had at my old school was terrible.”

“Ours have been pretty enjoyable here, I hope you enjoy it Akira.” Haru said smiling. He smiled back.

 

Between working, helping out for the school festival, and helping out a few people he knew the time just disappeared and it was time for the cultural festival. Akira still wondered if Akechi was going to show up as promised. He still couldn’t believe Makoto’s work to organize that, it was amazing. But he had more important things to worry about.

Such as the guys raining on everyone’s parade and bailing out at the last minute with the maid outfits. Mishima and Akira were changing already behind some curtains in their makeshift kitchen.

“No way! I aint wearing something like this!” One student exclaimed. Akira just kept getting changed behind the curtain. He was getting anxious about it now. It felt different now that he was doing this by himself…well he took a small bit of comfort in having Mishima changing as well. But everyone had put hard work into the plan, he couldn’t just let it go downhill.

“Come on!” Ann exclaimed angrily. “We all agreed to it that’s why we went forward with it!”

“We don’t have the time to get more costumes either…” another student said, softer though.

“This is bullshit.” A male student grumbled. “Why should we have to wear maid outfits? You girls should wear em.”

“Why should we?” Ann countered, she sounded like she wanted to hit somebody. “Clothes aren’t gendered!”

Akira took a deep breath.

“Ann calm down, look if all the guys aren’t going to-”

He opened the curtain loudly.

Everyone turned to look at him. He felt embarrassed. It was awkward but they had all agreed to it prior, maybe they guys were just nervous about it.

He was loving the reactions to his dressed up self though. Especially when Ann and a group of girls, who previously had kept away from him because he was a ‘delinquent’, rushed over to him excitedly.

“Wow Akira you look so good!” Ann praised grinning from ear to ear.

It was a simple black maid outfit, frills around the edge of the skirt and the sleeves, unlike Kawakami’s one the skirt was a bit shorter and the leggings he wore were black thigh high tights, the chest opening, apron, and bow tie were the same however the apron and headband were red. He was also loving his red elbow length gloves, they reminded him of his Joker outfit. Honestly Ann did a great job at finding ones that sort of matched their school colours.

The boys were looking at him surprised. Even most of the girls. He busied himself with the end of his gloves to try and distract him from the oncoming anxiety he felt.

As for what all the girls wore, it was a simple outfit consisting of black slacks, a red long sleeved shirt, black tie, and a black vest with red gloves.

“Even the delinquent did it.” He heard someone whisper.

“You spent a lot of effort getting these.” Akira said to Ann. “It wouldn’t have been cheap to get them in our sizes either.”

“Well yeah…” Ann trailed off. Akira saw a few boys looked over awkwardly. Then Mishima came out dressed the same tugging at the skirt.

“So what do you want us to do?” He asked eyes sparkling. A few of the guys took the outfits and went behind the changing curtains, some of them were feeling guilty if their awkward expressions were anything to judge by.

“Oh man you both showed them up.” Ann laughed. “Mishima I’m surprised you got into one of those, you were a little apprehensive weren’t you?”

“Well I mean it’s a cultural festival, I’m not gonna put a damper on everyone’s mood.” Mishima laughed. With that the rest of the guys went to change. Akira pat him on the back but he just looked back confused. Mishima had a way with accidentally saying rude stuff without realising it. As soon as the boys had changed they were ready to start serving.

 

Akira was honestly glad he held so many jobs for honestly he wasn’t expecting the rush of customers to come through or the panic that everyone was in trying to get everything right. He took command with Ann and surprisingly everyone listened, probably because it was so hectic. He had gone to help cooking when Ann called for a switchover.

He was glad he had seen how Kawakami acted on her job before she started lounging around and that he had read and watched a lot of movies on charming people to try and improve his social skills. Though maybe it was a mistake on his part because they got _even busier_.

Honestly the phrase “Welcome home master!” was getting so stuck in his head he barely registered anyone saying it. The words had deconstructed itself.

Mishima came over with a tray and tripped and Akira managed to catch him and the tray skilfully earning a few whistles.

“S-sorry Akira.” Mishima stammered but looked at him amazed with his proficiency.

“It’s okay.” Akira said, honestly partially in Joker/leader mode at this point, “Just take your time, don’t be slow but don’t rush yourself or you could hurt yourself.” He put the tray back in Mishima’s hands and poked him in the forehead with a finger before going to help another table.

“Welcome home master!” He greeted smiling and went to hand whoever it was the menus. He almost dropped them everywhere. At the table sat Haru, Makoko, Futaba, Ryuji (with Morgana), and Yusuke. The mixed reaction was once again amazing.

Haru cheered and clapped while Makoto looked him up and down nodding approvingly. She had mentioned she liked the aesthetic one time.

Futaba was taking pictures because of course she would.

Ryuji’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head.

Yusuke looked…honestly Akira couldn’t place the exact look but he was examining every detail of Akira’s maid outfit.

“DUDE!” Ryuji yelled causing some eyes to go towards their table. Ann skipped over seeing them.

“Master please don’t raise your voice.” Akira said cutely then laughed at Ryuji’s spluttering. Ryuji was making such a big deal about it. “Here are the menus guys.”

“Hey guys!” Ann greeted.

“Ann you look so good!” Haru exclaimed excitedly with Makoto nodding beside her. Ann had swapped her outfit when one of the guys accidentally spilled some juice on her. So unlike the other girls she wore a tailcoat instead of a vest.

“Look at us, we’re the bosses.” Ann boasted then pointed to him. “This guy especially! And he’s so good with customer service.”

“Hey! Can I get a refill?” Someone called out.

“Of course master!” Akira replied and put the menus on the table.

“You see?” Ann said pointing at him. As Akira came up to the table and the guy went to hand him the cup he dropped it. Thankfully it was plastic so it didn’t break but he had to bend down to pick it up.

“Sorry about that…” The guy trailed off embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it master.” Akira replied with a smile. Akira stopped, he felt like someone was watching him. He turned to look over his shoulder and saw Yusuke was still watching him. Honestly what was going through his head? “Do you want the same drink?” The guy nodded and Akira went off to fix it up. Ann came in a few seconds later and nudged his ribs with her elbow smirking.

“Someone’s captivated.” She teased.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Akira stammered. Ann just wiggled her eyebrows.

“Yusuke looks like he’s awakening to a new kink.” She said grinning devilishly.

“Oh my god Ann stop.” Akira said getting embarrassed now. She just kept grinning at him so he shoved the mop in her hands and left to go give the drink to the guy. As he headed to another table one of the girls came over to him.

“Akira-kun we’re running out of stock…” She said slowly. “What should we do?”

“We’ve still got a few hours to run the fair…cross it off the menu and instead hm...” Akira trailed off. “Do we still have some of those pocky packs?”

“Yeah? Will we offer that instead?” She asked. “I’m pretty sure we have only one box though…”

“Maybe we’ll discuss it with everyone but if we run out of more food we could do a special event? Like the pocky game? Or something like that?” Akira shrugged.

“Okay, I’ll go cross what we don’t have off the list.” She said and scurried off. Akira ended up coming back to the table his friends were at.

“Yooo Akira! Inari’s been checking you out this entire time.” Futaba told him.

“I was merely observing.” Yusuke huffed, his cheeks were slightly pink.

“Do you like my outfit master?” Akira asked teasingly. Yusuke blushed darker and busied himself with a menu.

“Dude you are so into this.” Ryuji commented. “Thinkin’ of working at a maid café too? Actually I could see you doin’ it you have like jobs all over the place man.”

“It’s been crazy, everyone’s saying it without thinking now.” Akira laughed. “The words been deconstructed, we have no idea what it is anymore.” Ann came jogging over and beckoned him away.

He came into the back where a few male students and some female students were making food while discussing what to do. Another menu item had sold out.

“We’re only down to one more now.” Ann said. “You said you had an idea for the pocky we got?”

“We can keep serving drinks at least but we’ve only got one menu item left now.” A male student added.

“What if we offer a game?” Akira suggested. “Something like- oh wait. I can do a trick with cups to hide a coin underneath it. The guests can pay and if they win they can play the pocky game with a maid of their choosing?”

“That’s a bit…” A girl trailed off.

“Here, let me show you. You can each try and win against me.” Akira said pushing them aside to grab a few cups and a coin. As expected none of them could guess which one had the coin under it. Akira was thankful he spent so much time training his proficiency for thieving, he was amazing with his hands now.

“What if someone does manage to guess where it is?” Ann asked.

“I’ll hide it, my apron has a pocket, I can quickly flick it back into my lap.” Akira said nodding. “Is this okay? I don’t want to go on with this plan if we don’t all agree with it.”

“It sounds great!” Mishima piped up. “You’re a speed demon.” The other students nodded.

“Though we’ll get a bunch of people who are comfortable doing the pocky game thing just in case.” Ann suggested.

“Good idea.” Akira nodded. “When we run out entirely we’ll offer it to the guests in the class at the time that way it won’t become a huge thing.” He went back and served his friends then they left to enjoy more of the festival. Honestly Akira was having fun even though he was working his ass off.

 

An hour passed and they had run out of food entirely. Honestly the third years were doing a maid café as well, how was their one so popular?

Either way they would have to close after this. So Akira and Ann had made the announcement and a few of the patrons jumped at the chance. There were six other students including Akira and Ann who were volunteering for the pocky game which made it three male and three female students. They rearranged the tables and everyone lined up. It was just five hundred yen per person. So Akira kept a cup for the coins they were collecting.

Thirty minutes later there was nearly no one in the class. Just five more people to get through. Honestly more people enjoying their drinks joined the queue just to try and beat him. From the corner of his eye he saw Ryuji, Futaba, Makoto, Haru, and Yusuke enter again. They even started helping pack up some of the rubbish while Akira worked his magic.

“Better luck next time master.” Akira said cheerily. This was working better than he thought it would. “Just one more, oh. Akechi, hello.”

Most of his conversations with Akechi had been limited to short talks here and there since they seemed to bump into each other quite a bit. Akira honestly didn’t think much of Akechi, but Akechi seemed to have taken a big interest in him.

“Hello Kurusu-kun, what a wonderful game you’ve been playing.” Akechi chuckled. “Almost like a con man.”

“I’m just good with my hands.” Akira shrugged with a smile.

“I’ll bet.” Akechi laughed. “Well, 500 yen right?” He put a coin in the cup and sat down.

“Ah, a few of the students need to go and prepare for some other festival activities.” Ann said before they started.

“Just as Akechi-kun came in as well.” One said sadly.

“That’s alright.” Akechi said smiling radiantly. “I was going to offer to play with Kurusu-kun.” There were a few squeals of jealousy. Akira saw Yusuke glaring at the detective, oh if looks could kill.

“Of course.” Akira replied smoothly. Akechi was more observant than most, there was no way he was going to be able to fool the young detective. He hadn’t cheated at the game yet but… “Well then-”

“Would you mind taking off your apron?” Akechi asked still smiling sweetly. Damn he was sharp like Makoto.

“Oh master, undressing me in front of everyone?” Akira teased holding his cheek pretending to be coy.

“Is there a problem with that?” Akechi asked.

“No of course not.” Akira replied untying the apron. “You were just so forward Akechi-kun~” There was a problem with it but he wasn’t going to lose face in front of the detective. He passed it to Ann. If he was quick enough he might be able to knock it onto his skirt and just leave it sitting in his lap. “Shall we start?”

“Of course.” Akechi was still smiling. A small crowd of students gathered around them, most of them had left after the pack up going to find a few more things to do.

Akira placed the coin under the middle cup and started swapping them around, as expected Akechi was watching the cups like a hawk. He was about to flick the coin into his dress when he saw the detective smirk. So he feinted doing it with another cup quickly and set them back down. The coin was in the middle cup.

“Which cup will you pick master?” He asked sweetly. Akechi looked at the cups humming and tapping his chin with a gloved finger. He pointed to the left one and Akira gave himself a small internal victory but kept smiling normally. “Are you sure?”

“On second thought, the middle.” Akechi said and flicked the cup over before Akira could ask. Sure enough there was the coin.

“Whoa.” Ann said surprised.

“Oh my how lucky!” Akechi cheered. “What do I win?”

“W-well you picked Akira so you’re uh…going to play the pocky game with him.” Ann trailed off, she was looking elsewhere, probably at Yusuke. Akira could feel Yusuke’s eyes trained on both of them. Gods this was awkward.

“You didn’t know what the prize was?” Akira asked. “Well you don’t have to do it since I’m a guy.”

“My, now that is quite the prize!” Akechi laughed. “Let’s do it.”

Akira was shocked for a moment but rearranged the table and sat with Akechi. They were knee to knee. Everyone was crowded around them as Ann got out a packet of pocky. “Was I the first winner of the day?”

“Yes.” Ann replied opening the pocky and handing a stick to Akira.

“Alright let’s do this.” Akira said, he was embarrassed having lost. Not only that but now they were surrounded by a handful of students watching eagerly. He put the end of the pocky between his teeth and closed his eyes.

Akechi took him by surprise by sliding his hands around the back of his neck, the people in the classroom whistled as Akira felt a shiver go up his spine. Namely because the gloves were so cold but Akechi was so bold for someone who appeared docile. Akira felt each slow little nibble as Akechi got closer, and closer, and closer to his mark. The hands slid up to his cheeks and Akira opened an eye to see Akechi had his slightly open. Oh boy, for a polite prince he sure had a dominating look in his eye. He angled his head to the side and went even slower.

Oh

This was a good idea until Akechi had played. But if he backed out that would be unfair.

He got closer and closer and then his lips brushed Akira’s causing a few people to squeal again. For a second Akira thought Akechi was going to kiss him and he was terrified. He went to push him away but the detective pulled back.

“Thank you for the service. That was fun.” Akechi grinned. Honestly it sounded like sarcasm and Akira got the feeling that had no one been around the detective would have devoured him. He left waving at them and Akira sighed.

“Why didn’t you cheat?” Ann asked.

“He saw when I was about to so I tried to fake it but he was surprisingly sharp.” Akira replied. He looked up and Yusuke was glaring out the door.

“We’re all finished now people!” Ann called. “Thank you for all your hard work! Go enjoy the rest of the festival!” The remaining students cheered then left the classroom chattering happily.

“That went better than expected.” Akira admitted. “I was surprised they listened to me at all.”

“Well you went into leader mode.” Ann laughed. “We made a killing with the pocky game prize, didn’t actually expect anyone to win.”

“You and me both.” Akira sighed rubbing the back of his neck. He waited until everyone left the classroom before coming closer to his group of friends and said. “Be careful discussing anything phantom thief related. In fact don’t discuss it at all. This goes double for you Ryuji.”

“Wha-” Ryuji spluttered and Ann and Morgana laughed.

“I mean it.” He said sternly. Everyone looked at him realising how serious he was and nodded. “I’m going to change now. I’ll meet you guys outside.”

Akira went into the changing corner and found his uniform. He took off his headband and unzipped the back of the outfit feeling thankful that the collar wasn’t connected to the dress. While he was flexible it would have been a bit difficult. He turned around to find a bag to put his maid outfit in when he heard the curtain open. He whipped around ready to react but it was just Yusuke.

“Oh Yusuke, I could have punched you.” He said turning back around to look for a bag. “What’s up?”

What he didn’t expect was cold hands slipping in through the open back of his dress to rest around his waist as Yusuke embraced him from behind. He almost shrieked, _why were his hands so cold?!_

“Y-Yusuke?” He stammered turning to look at his boyfriend. He wiggled around and when he was facing Yusuke the other boy kissed him roughly. Akira almost bit his lip. It wasn’t unpleasant though, oh no, Akira loved it when Yusuke got just a little rough with him. Yusuke continued to kiss him senselessly pinning his hips to the table behind them hard. They parted with Akira taking a deep shuddering breath. Crap this was hot.

“It was difficult to not steal you away while you worked.” Yusuke mumbled into his neck giving it a few kisses. “You were breathtaking as usual. That detective was very lucky indeed.”

“He didn’t kiss me, though he could have.” Akira blurted out.

“I’m thankful to the gods for that then.” Yusuke replied then kissed him again. Akira put his arms around Yusuke’s back and sighed happily into the kiss. “Though I might just put a claim on you to ward off other bugs.”

“Oh?” Akira laughed softly, Yusuke was nuzzling into his neck. Honestly a hickey from Yusuke didn’t sound too bad...Maybe he didn’t know how to do it properly, if he accidentally bit him too hard well Akira wasn’t going to complain.

“However I’m luckier than the detective.” Yusuke said smiling.

“Oh?” Akira hummed. “Why’s that?”

“Because you’re my boyfriend.” Yusuke chuckled and grinned wider when Akira blushed darker. “And I get to do this….” He trailed off then went back to kissing Akira again. Yusuke was ridiculously good at kissing now. Akira seriously thought it was a lie when he said he had no experience but Yusuke was rather bold and liked to do what he wanted occasionally. Maybe he just acted on some of those wants when they kissed.

  
“As uh great as that is we’re not waiting outside for you two to smooch it up in here.” Morgana said and hopped up onto a table. Yusuke couldn’t meet the cat’s eyes as he excused himself. Morgana shook his head and looked at Akira who gave him a peace sign and a cheeky grin. “You’re a menace.”

“Hey Morgana?” He called. Morgana turned to him and gestured to continue. “Keep an ear out for Akechi, if he’s close by pat me three times. Just in case I need to forcibly change the conversation topic.”

“Roger leader.” Morgana replied sounding somewhat proud. Without Morgana’s guidance Akira wouldn’t have become as good as a thief as he was. “That detective is rather sharp. I honestly though he was just an idol or something.”

He finished getting changed and met the others in the hallway.

 

They hung out a bit and as promised Morgana kept him keyed in to when Akechi was around. To be honest he could have checked Akechi out with his third eye ability. But Morgana would hear him before Akira would notice him. Using his ability within a dense crowd was hard.

Akechi’s panel was amazing, more specifically the way Makoto handled him was amazing. Everyone got worried when Makoto asked Akechi to specify who the phantom thieves were but Akira trusted her to lead this and she knew this. Ironically Akechi’s phone rang and they had to stop the panel for a bit.

Meeting Akechi after the phone call had not been part of the plan however. They were all tense as Akechi had asked them to come. Morgana was whispering something to him when the detective made his appearance and was greeted with…silence. No one said a single thing. So Akira took the lead.

“Fancy meeting you again master.” He said in the same cutesy tone he had been using working at their maid café. He saw Akechi try to hide his smile, it diffused some of the tension. “Why have you gathered us here today Akechi?”

“Oh I was fond of you calling me Master Kurusu-kun.” Akechi ‘joked’. Honestly Akira wasn’t sure if he was joking.

“Please Akechi, just call me Akira.” He replied with a smile.

“Then call me Goro.” Akechi replied in turn smiling at him.

“W-”

“What business do you have with us?” Yusuke cut in coldly.

“I’ll cut to the chase then Kitagawa-kun.” Akechi said still smiling but it was tense. “I do hope we can come to an agreement, after all I took some interesting pictures.” Akechi laid out a pile of photos…of them entering the Metaverse. Akira took a glance but everyone else came closer to look at the pictures shocked.

“W-what…” Makoto trailed off in disbelief.

“This…this is…” Ann breathed shakily.

“Shit…” Ryuji cursed.

“I-I hadn’t a-accounted for this.” Futaba was starting to panic.

“Oh dear. This isn’t good.” Haru mumbled. Yusuke was silent but he was gripping his photo as well as Akira, he looked panicked. Akira swore he saw Akechi smirk at their reactions and stepped closer to the detective.

“The question stands.” He said firmly. “What business do you have with us? Just say it straight.”

“It is nothing so…sinister I assure you. I just want to find the truth.” Akechi replied. “I believe you’re innocent in regards to the death of Kunikaze Okumura.”

“Oh?” Akira asked. “Why is that?”

“I…may have seen the culprit, sort of.” Akechi trailed off. “I found myself in that weird world. The one I saw you disappear into. There I was chased by a man in a black mask and I…awakened to a persona.” This grabbed everyone’s attention.

“You were in the Metaverse?” Ann asked.

“Yes, I couldn’t defeat the culprit because I had to flee.” Akechi continued. “My goal is to join the Phantom Theives to arrest this criminal as well as clear your names.”

“Is that so?” Akira asked. “I had thought you had somewhat of a disagreement with our actions?”

“While it doesn’t line up with my idea of justice I cannot ignore that you have done a great deal of good in helping criminals face judgement for their crimes.” Akechi admitted. “Thus I would like to join to take down this criminal.”

“Man you can’t just-!”

“My terms are that you allow me to join to take down the culprit, then you disband.” Akechi said bluntly interrupting Ryuji. When met with no immediate reaction he held the photos up. “Otherwise this incriminating evidence goes straight to the police.”

“That’s-”

“We agree.” Akira replied, his teammates looked at him shocked.

“Akira?” Ann looked at him confused.

“Do you have a lead?” He asked.

“No, however I am searching. Shall we share contact information? I will message you when I find a lead.” Akechi said smiling. He and Akira swapped details. “I look forward to working with you, Akira.”

“Likewise.” Akira replied with a polite smile.

“Now, I must be getting back to work, I wasn’t supposed to stay away from the office for this long.” Akechi looked at his watch and hummed. “Farewell.”

As soon as he left his teammates turned on him, all speaking at the same time.

“Akira what the hell?!”

“You can’t just- what are we going to do?”

“That was ill advised.”

“Oi, cut it out.” Morgana interrupted them. “He has blackmail on us and he’s a cop.”

“W-well yeah but…” Ann trailed off. Akira considered telling them about his suspicions regarding Akechi but the detective was still outside the door. He would have to call a meeting in LeBlanc later.

“We just need to do what we usually do and find a target.” Akira said firmly. “Treat him as a new member to the team, we don’t know his abilities yet so if we traverse into the Metaverse keep an eye on him to work with him. We can discuss this with Akechi at a later date.” He whipped out his phone and sent them a message to a private group chat.

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Morgana and I will talk to you about Akechi later. Meet us at LeBlanc later today.

 

“I suppose it is our only option.” Haru said after she read the message.

“We don’t have much of a choice.” Futaba agreed.

“Let’s just try to enjoy the rest of the festival okay?” Akira said smiling reassuringly at them.

 

 

After explaining their suspicions the group had agreed to go along with the plan though they were pretty vocal about their disapproval of their new team member. However as they met with Akechi they were civil, the trusted Akira and it meant the world to him.

A week later during their meeting Akechi set down his cup of coffee while Akira hung his apron back up.

“I have a suggestion.” Akechi said.

“Go on.” Akira prompted.

“Less a suggestion more a call to act.” He clarified. “Sae Nijima has a palace.” Makoto stiffened up immediately, Akira saw Haru place her hand gently on the small of her back.

“How did you find this out?” Morgana asked.

“Sae-san is on the team to catch the Phantom Thieves, she has been frantic lately as our superiors are pressuring us to catch you and put this issue to rest.” Akechi explained. “They had been pressuring her for months and I think she is about to fabricate evidence just to solve the case.”

“No…sis…” Makoto placed her hand over her mouth shocked.

“I put in some keywords to the app and sure enough I got a hit.” Akechi continued. “However I didn’t want to present this to you without making sure my suspicions of her corruption were true.”

“It’s dangerous to navigate the Metaverse alone.” Akira cut in. “You should have at least consulted me before going through with it.”

“It was fine-”

“Even if it was, it was still dangerous.” Akira said firmly. This seemed to catch the detective by surprise and he scratched the back of his head shyly.

“I promise I won’t do it again leader.” He said. “I suppose I was a little eager to prove myself to the group.” He looked at Akira with a small smile and for a second Akira was taken aback. Akechi usually wore a mask around them and everyone and while it was good Akira was observant. Akechi looked touched by the concern he had shown.

“Were you able to confirm it?” Makoto asked her voice slightly shaky. “I knew…I knew she had a palace but-”

“Wait, you knew?!” Ryuji exclaimed.

“I never saw her palace I couldn’t get the last word…but she came up as a hit on the MetaNav app…” Makoto trailed off.

“Why didn’t you talk to us about it?” Ann asked.

“I didn’t want to have us chase my sister for a selfish reason.” Makoto said. “There were bigger targets who were more dangerous.”

“Makoto….” Morgana trailed off sadly.

“To answer your question… I was able to confirm that she does have a shadow but I didn’t go any further into her palace.”  Akechi said answering her earlier question. “If it’s alright leader I’d like to suggest we check it out.”

“Of course, just give me a few days to get our equipment ready.” Akira replied. “We’ll go at 10am.”

“Excellent.” Akechi said and finished the last bit of his coffee. “Oh is it this late already? I must be heading off if there is no further business.”

“I had better head off too.” Ann replied. “I have a modelling shoot tomorrow.” She got up and left first giving everyone a grin and a wave. Akira looked at Ryuji.

“Didn’t you say your mum wanted to give her some food for dinner?” Akira lied. Ryuji was thankfully fast on the uptake.

“Shit! Thanks for remindin’ me!” Ryuji snatched up his things and ran after Ann. “Later! Hey Ann! WAIT UP!”

“Stop yelling in the street!” They heard Ann yell back.

“They’re an odd pair.” Akechi said raising an eyebrow.

“They’ve been friends since middleschool.” Akira laughed. “Ann’s parents don’t come home often so sometimes she has dinner at Ryuji’s. His mum adores her.”

“I see.” Akechi nodded. He seemed to believe it…well it wasn’t a lie per se. “Well I’ll be off then. Farewell.”

“Of course, see you another time Akechi.” Akira waved him out the door. “Are you alright Makoto?”

“I…yes…” Makoto trailed off. “While the idea upsets me of sis having a palace…I can at least help her by saving her from going down a bad path.”

“It’ll be okay Mako-chan.” Haru soothed rubbing circles into her back.

“Thanks Haru.” Makoto mumbled hugging her.

“I’ll take you home alright?” Haru asked. “I have a driver waiting for me.”

“Yusuke do you need money for the train fare?” Akira asked his boyfriend.

“Oh I-”

“Nonsense Yusuke, I can drop you off.” Haru interrupted.

“I-…thank you Haru.” Yusuke bowed his head slightly.

“Well then if everyone is gonna skedaddle then –”

“Wait Futaba we need to talk for a moment.” Akira interrupted then gestured to his room.

“Gotcha leader!” Futaba said giving him finger guns. “See ya guys!” She skipped up the stairs.

“We’ll see you another time.” Haru said rising to leave with Makoto.

“See you later.” Akira replied waving to them. Yusuke came over to him. “See you tomorrow Yusuke.”

“Mm.” Yusuke hummed but made no move to leave. Akira blinked at him confused, what was Yusuke doing? Then the taller boy took his hand and gave him a kiss on the lips. Akira closed his eyes and gently stroked the back of Yusuke’s hand with his thumb.

“WOOO GET IN THERE INARI!!” Futaba cheered and the two of them managed to headbutt each other from the surprise. Which of course sent Futaba into a fit of giggles. Yusuke glared at her pouting and blushing. It was adorable.

“Bye bye.” Akira laughed. He turned to the stairs and followed Futaba up them. If anyone could figure out a way to spy on Akechi without giving them away it would be her.

 

 

The next morning Akira woke up bright an early. He picked out his clothes and went downstairs.

“Mornin kid.” Sojiro greeted from behind the counter.

“Good morning.” He replied sitting up on one of the stools. Sojiro placed some coffee in front of him and then gave him a once over before humming like he wanted to say something. “What is it?”

“You headin somewhere special today?” He asked. “With that boy of yours?” Akira immediately blushed and busied himself with his coffee.

Yeah he had bought a new outfit. A pair of black skinny jeans, a dark red v-neck shirt, a dark sweater (the sleeves of which were too long but Ann insisted on it), and his black ankle high boots.

He may have gotten a bit excited since today was going to be a date. Sure he was going to get equipment for the group, but later.

“Well you look happy.” Sojiro said with a smirk. “Have fun.”

“Thanks, he should be here soon.” Akira replied. He finished the last bit of his coffee as the bell chimed. It was Yusuke, he was dressed in an outfit Akira hadn’t seen him in before.

He was in a pair of black pants, a light blue button up shirt with the first two buttons popped, and a dark coloured thick looking coat.

“Yusuke!” Akira couldn’t keep the cheer out of his voice as he skipped over to his boyfriend. _Jeez that still made him giddy._

“You look wonderful.” Yusuke said smiling.

“You as well.” Akira replied smiling back. Sojiro came over. “Ah I’ll be back later.”

“You two have fun.” He said then shook his head and reached behind Yusuke. “Might want to cut the tag off first.” Yusuke went bright red and looked away shyly while Sojiro cut the tag off his jacket.

They stepped out of LeBlanc and Yusuke rubbed his neck shyly.

“I was…too excited for today.” He said. Akira grinned up at him. He was so cute.

“I was as well. Do you want to get something to eat first?” Akira asked. Yusuke nodded, his eyes gleaming as they did whenever they went to get food. Honestly Akira was going to start making him meals to heat up at this rate.

 

The two headed off to the diner in Shibuya along the way Yusuke had tried to hold his hand but…Akira was still anxious. He felt guilty telling Yusuke to stop, but instead of getting dejected Yusuke just smiled at him understandingly. He was amazing.

So they sat at the diner eating and chatting. Yusuke was off on a triad about art and Akira just watched him speaking with his full attention. He loved how Yusuke was so passionate.

When they left the diner to walk around Inokashira Park since there were less people Akira slipped his hand into Yusuke’s.

“Is this okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, sorry for before just…I’m still a little anxious.” Akira replied. Yusuke told him not to worry and they walked into the park.

Partway through they sat down together to enjoy the scene.

“When did you come out to the boss?” Yusuke asked rubbing his thumb over the back of Akira’s hand.

“Well I placed a hypothetical question and he guessed really sharply.” Akira replied. “I asked him how he felt about same-sex couples and he said and I quote ‘love is love, as long as it’s not illegal’. I think he saw me smiling into my coffee or something because he followed it up with ‘and if you want to date that painter boy that’s fine as long as you don’t do anything that’ll get me in trouble for noise complaints.’”

“How sharp.” Yusuke chuckled.

“I was…really happy.” Akira confessed. “Originally I didn’t like Sojiro much, he treated me like I was a brat but now…he’s more of a parental figure to me now.”

“He does have a sort of father figure air about him. Sometimes while we wait for you at LeBlanc he comes by and gives us drinks or snacks.” Yusuke mused with a smile.

“I think we’ve all been adopted by him.” Akira chuckled. “I’m glad…it’ll be sad going back when my probation ends…oh! I wanted to ask you. What do you think about Akechi?”

“Oh?” Yusuke huffed. “Why?”

“You don’t talk much when he’s with the group.” Akira told him. “I mean everyone is sort of on edge with him around but-”

“He is…very friendly with you.” Yusuke said slowly. “I don’t mean it in the silly way I got jealous about Makoto before…it almost seems like Akechi is provoking me. I might be overreacting however.”

“Well you don’t have to worry.” Akira said softly. “I don’t plan on dating anyone else.”

“Nor do I, not after finding such an amazing boyfriend.” Yusuke said smiling at him. Yusuke was honestly so cheesy, and he loved it. Akira leaned up and pressed a gentle kiss to Yusuke’s lips. He returned it eagerly.


	7. Lobster Censor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gets very nsfw. I've been pretty busy so forgive any typos ahh. Enjoy <3

The day they were set to head over to Sae’s palace Akechi rocked up at LeBlanc nice and early. He was seated in a booth when Akira wandered downstairs.

“Good morning Akira-kun.” He greeted with a smile.

“Good morning Akechi.” He replied and sat down next to the detective.

“I had a question.” Akechi started. Akira gestured for him to continue. “The others don’t like me much. Or are they regularly hostile?”

“You did blackmail them Akechi.” Akira pointed out. “And then suggest Makoto’s sister’s palace.”

“I suppose in hindsight that might have been a bad way to go about things.” Akechi hummed thoughtfully. “But we’re here now, I just hope I can prove useful to the team.”

“I can’t vouch for your ability in the Metaverse since we haven’t been yet but you’re sharp and smart.” Akira said folding a napkin. “I predict you’ll become a valuable member of the team.”

“Akira-kun you are too kind.” Akechi said softly.

“And I told you to drop the honorifics.” Akira replied grinning. Akechi laughed.

“Also I have a wonder if you will indulge me.” He said and reached for Akira who looked at his hands confused. “Are they fake?” He pulled Akira’s glasses off and the world around him blurred.

“Why does everyone ask that?” Akira mumbled as Akechi looked at his glasses. “I do need them, I wear contacts occasionally. I can see things that are far away and in the Metaverse my mask surprisingly has my prescription?”

“I see…” Akechi hummed then put on his glasses wincing slightly at the change. “Do I look dashing or nerdy? Tell me the truth.” Akira snorted.

“I can’t really see.” He said. The door chimed and Akira looked over to see who had arrived. Though he could only make out blurry shapes it looked like Yusuke, Ann, and Ryuji judging from their postures and hair colours.

“Good morning.” Akechi greeted.

“Mornin’.” Ryuji returned. “Why do ya have Akira’s glasses?”

“I was curious to see if they were prescription or not.” Akechi told him standing up. “How do they make me look?”

“Hey give them back, I can’t-” Akira got up to get his glasses back and tripped over a black blur (probably Morgana) which ran past his feet. He crashed right into Akechi, the two of them fell into one of the stools and onto the floor with a loud crash. “Ouch, Morgana…”

“Ugh…” Akechi groaned. “Though now that we’re this close how do I look?” Akira couldn’t help bursting out laughing before rolling off Akechi and standing up. He almost tripped over Morgana again but Yusuke steadied him.

“Thanks.” He said smiling up at his boyfriend.

“You do look quite nice without glasses.” Yusuke commented then when Akechi stood up he stole Akira’s glasses back and put them on himself. “How do they look on me?”

“Oh? I can’t see what you look like without them, maybe I need to get a little closer.” Akira hummed leaning in closer with a cheeky grin.

“Oh is that so?” Yusuke replied. Was he smirking? He was looking elsewhere as well. Akira couldn’t dwell on it since he accidentally stepped on Morgana’s paw. Morgana screamed and started clawing up his leg.

“HOW DARE YOU STEP ON ME!!” Morgana yowled and Akira hopped around trying to get the cat off his leg.

“Ow ow ow come on it was an accident Morgana!” He pleaded and eventually pulled the cat off his leg. “I blame you for this Akechi.” Akechi was too busy laughing at him. Yusuke popped the glasses back on Akira’s face while Akira put Morgana down as Futaba, Makoto, and Haru walked in.

“Good we’re all here.” Akechi said. “Shall we head off?”

 

 

“Looks like there’s a saferoom up ahead.” Oracle mused. They had been on their infiltration run for a while, the team was starting to look a little ragged.

“Shall we rest for a bit?” Fox asked. Joker nodded heading into the saferoom. Everyone took a spot in the room and started healing up.

Sae’s palace was something else. It was bright and loud and overwhelming. But there was too much at stake to worry about it. Truth be told he was thankful for the rest. Sae’s shadow even seemed to be playing with them. It was taking a toll on Makoto.

Queen sat with Noir, they were treating each other’s wounds while talking softly. Joker was glad she had Noir with her, he could tell she was upset and trying not to show it.

Skull sat with Fox and Oracle while Panther and Mona sat together looking over some of the weapons they had found. Crow was on his own.

Crow really stuck out with his bright red, white, and gold outfit. And that mask. Honestly it was fitting for him to get the code name “Crow” with how beaklike it was. He was doing rather well with their team. Akira kept him on the team for each battle just to try and get the full scope of his skills and he was proving to be a force to be reckoned with.

Joker sat down next to Crow who pushed his mask up to rest on the top of his head.

“Hello Joker.” Crow greeted.

“Hey Crow.” Joker replied. “You can use our actual names here.”

“I didn’t think that would be wise.” Crow answered with a hum. “Seeing as we can relax here as long as we like without getting ambushed I imagine you’re right. But can you call me Crow until I get used to it?”

“Of course, how are you finding it Crow?” Joker asked.

“It?” He replied confused.

“Fighting with us, infiltration, using your persona skills. That sort of thing.” Joker elaborated.

“It’s interesting. Queen is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to battle tactics and actual fighting. Oracle is amazing with her navigation and Mona is as well but his healing skills are something amazing.” Crow started. “Panther is fierce, Noir is downright frightening in combat and I’m glad she’s on our side.”

“She is.” Joker laughed.

“Skull’s skills are quite amazing as well, it was unexpected. His persona looks pretty cool…Everyone’s looks so amazing…” Crow mumbled the last part. “Fox is…”

“Hm?” Joker hummed when Crow didn’t continue.

“He is very cold.” he finished. “Towards me.”

“Ah.” Was all Joker could say. He had noticed it but honestly he couldn’t really comment on it.

“He is surprisingly tough. Er that is to say I hadn’t expected his ferocity on the battlefield. He is quite stoic outside of the metaverse.” Crow stumbled over his words a little. “As for you Joker…”

“Oh? I’m being evaluated?” He smirked and Crow laughed.

“You’re amazing, you take control of the situation and the orders you give us are spot on. Your offence and defence are practically perfect. I noticed you have multiple personas as well and cycling through them and using their skills seems to be second nature to you. You do it so seamlessly.” He praised. “I do wonder…which one is your true persona?”

“Oh.” Joker said. He hadn’t used Arsene yet for the day, that was true. “Would you like to meet him?”

“If that’s possible yes.” Crow nodded.

“Come on out Aresène.” Joker summoned his persona with a flash of blue flames. Which honestly he should have said something because everyone got startled.

“What’s going on?!” Oracle exclaimed.

“Are we under attack?” Panther jumped up grabbing her whip.

“Oh he’s as dashing as you are!” Crow exclaimed. Everyone was silent. “Oh uh…” Aresène and Akira started laughing. Surprisingly he and Aresène laughed the same way.

“There’s no cause for alarm.” Aresène chortled. “Crow was interested in viewing me.”

“I think there might be something else he’s interested in.” Panther mumbled. Crow went bright red which sent Joker and Aresène into another fit of laughter.

“We are dashing are we?” Aresène teased.

“How about it detective?” Joker asked spinning around and striking a dramatic pose which Aresène mimicked. “How about this? Is this dashing?” Crow covered his face with his hands mortified and almost all of them tried to hide their laughter, aside from Oracle. Joker continued to strike poses with Aresène.

“Oh hey watch this though.” Oracle said and looked towards Fox then nodded towards Joker. Fox walked over smoothly and put his arms around Joker’s waist smiling when he felt Joker jolt a little.

“You are quite dashing Joker.” He said softly. “Absolutely stunning.”

Aresène laughed as Joker blushed. Fox pressed a kiss to his cheek and covered his face with his hands. He felt Fox chuckle.

“Perhaps we should get back to infiltrating the palace.” Crow said. Joker took his hands off his face and for a split second he saw Crow glaring as he popped his mask back down.

“Is that alright with everyone?” Joker asked. With everyone’s approval they moved on.

 

Akira had them infiltrate the palace sparingly at first just to get a judge of what Akechi would be up to thanks to the bug Futaba placed in his phone. So far there wasn’t much to report aside from knowing that he was going to betray them. So they did as they usually did.

Akira noticed a change in Akechi. It seemed like he was comfortable with the group. But he could see a few times when Akechi would look at them with hurt in his eyes. Or how he would look so touched when Akira would worry over him overworking himself. Akira had no idea what to do. It seemed like Akechi wanted to be with them, part of him noticed the group acted like they wanted him to stay as well.

Akira wished he could out that he knew that Akechi was going to betray them. He wanted to try and talk some sense into him and try and make him join them. But…if he did that and Akechi didn’t agree then their plan would fail. It bothered him endlessly.

There was one development that did bother Akira. Yusuke and Akechi seemed to be in a competition to impress him…or something? Count today for instance. They were in Sae’s palace, the current team was Noir, Fox, Crow, and himself. Their battle ethic was fine but they seemed to be leading most of the all out attacks or pushing each other out to try and do that.

They had just defeated a group of four shadows. Akira had gotten knocked down once and they defended him but also both of them ended up defeating most of the shadows. They were bickering about it in hushed voices but Akira could hear them.

“Good work Fox, but you were a little slow today.” Crow had said.

“I think you might be mistaken Crow, you were the slow one today.” Fox replied. “When Joker got knocked down you panicked.”

“I think it was you who panicked jumping in front of him like that.” Crow countered.

“Are you just jealous that you didn’t think of protecting him first?” Fox snorted. “Going on the offence instead?”

“You did as well, I slayed more than you.” Crow grumbled.

“I-”

“I can hear both of you.” Joker hissed angrily. “Are you two children?”

“No we just…” Crow trailed off

“Ah we…” Fox trailed off as well

“Keep your head in the game. Or I’ll send you to a saferoom.” Joker huffed and continued onwards.

However they didn’t stop, so Joker swapped them around after a while. But they had to leave the palace. He was fuming. They had more important things to focus on than a jealousy match. He bid everyone farewell but had Yusuke stay behind and shooed off Morgana for a bit. Once he was sure everyone had left he turned to his boyfriend.

“What was that in the palace today?” He asked glaring at Yusuke.

“I…” Yusuke trailed off. Akira let out an exasperated huff and backed Yusuke up against his desk.

“You don’t need to fight for something you have.” He growled then kissed him. They held it for a few moments before Akira pulled away.

“I suppose it was a little silly.” Yusuke said slowly and stroked the back of Akira’s neck. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Akira sighed. “As long as you understand.”

“How bold of you though Akira, pushing me against a desk like this.” Yusuke teased and Akira blushed but laughed.

 

 

As they got closer to their due date Akechi’s plan became clear. So they had their time to execute parts of their plan. The closer the got, the closer Akira felt to Akechi and the closer he felt to a panic. There was so much riding on him to execute their plan. He put on a face for them saying he knew what he was doing but deep down it scared him. Not getting caught, just what might happen to his friends if he failed. Akira made sure he did as much as he could. He spent as much time as he could with all his friends and finished as many mementos requests as he could.

Two nights before he decided to send the calling card he invited Yusuke over for a sleepover. They went shopping and Akira decided to spoil him by buying him some new paints. The way Yusuke’s eyes lit up was adorable, he was so excited to test them out. Akira joked about using his body as the canvas. Yusuke suggested edible paint instead.

They went back to LeBlanc and cuddled up to watch movies for the rest of most of the day. Morgana disappeared off to Futaba’s place when night rolled around as he didn’t want to “be stuck between newlyweds”.

“Well then, shall we turn in for the night?” Yusuke asked.

“Yeah, just let me go make sure the door to LeBlanc is locked.” Akira replied jogging downstairs. He came back upstairs and Yusuke had set up on the sofa. Akira just wordlessly took his pillow and blanket and put them on his bed and gestured to it. Yusuke blinked then crawled into the bed, Akira turned the lights off then climbed in next to him. It was a bit of a squeeze but not too badly.

“Do you mind if we cuddle?” Akira asked. Yusuke shook his head and Akira put his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. “There’s a few days left.”

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried.” Yusuke said softly. “It would kill me should anything happen to you.” He put a hand on Akira’s cheek and Akira smiled at him.

“That goes both ways.” He whispered. “I’m worried as well. But I have to hope that this will be successful.” Yusuke nodded and hugged him closer with a sigh.

“I love you Akira.” He said. “I adore you.”

“I…Yusuke you…” Akira’s voice cracked. “I love you too.”

“I might not be good with timing but I wanted to tell you.” Yusuke sighed. “I just had to…”

“I used to be so jealous of Ann when we met you.” Akira confessed. “She had all your attention, while I got the cold shoulder.”

“How blind I was.” Yusuke chuckled. “While Ann is a beautiful woman I find myself blessed that I can have you in my arms.”

“Are you sure it’s not because I said I’d model nude for you?” Akira teased earning another laugh from Yusuke. They cuddled together for a bit enjoying each other’s warmth. “Yusuke, did you want to hear about my dream? The one from ages ago I mean.”

“If you’d like to share it, it was interesting when you pounced on me drunk.” Yusuke replied and Akira laughed a little. “Even now I am unable to forget it.”

“I’m a little embarrassed to talk about it but I sort of want to tell you.” Akira said softly. “It would start with you kissing me, hard. You’d give me the dirtiest French kiss and then knock us onto the bed pushing me down. You’d give me a few short kisses on my face and neck before diving right back in to making out. This time you…pull my hair and uhm…put your thigh between my legs.” Akira peeked up to gauge Yusuke’s reaction but the other boy was just drinking it in.

“Go on.” Yusuke said softly.

“Right…It’s like you’re devouring me and I love it. You pull my hair again and grind your leg up against me…all I can do is try and hold on while I grind right back up.” Akira continued. “I- are you hard?”

“You like it rough?” Yusuke asked ignoring his question.

“A little bit sometimes.” Akira answered.

“If I…kissed and bit your neck would it be nice for you?”  He whispered, Akira felt himself shiver as Yusuke’s lips came down to ghost over his neck. “If I bit your ear, gripped your hips hard while I…”

They both swallowed. Being even closer now they could feel the press of each other’s hard on.

“Sorry I should-”

“Do you…want to try touching each other?” Akira asked blushing. “If not we can just take turns in the bathroom?”

“I… want to touch you.” Yusuke confessed. “I want to have you shiver and hear those sweet moans of yours. I want you to come undone just from me alone.”

“Fuck Yusuke…” Akira cursed. “You’re just so...hot.” He slipped his hand into the front of Yusuke’s pants and Yusuke pulled his head up to kiss him hard. Akira opened his mouth welcoming the make out. But he hadn’t expected Yusuke to curl his fingers up in Akira’s hair and pull his head back roughly but gently enough as not to hurt him. He moaned giving a short buck of his hips.

“That was a good reaction.” Yusuke hummed.

“You!” Akira spluttered and Yusuke just smirked before pulling his head back again and kissing his neck. “Mmm…”

“I would be lying if I said I had not imagined something like this happening.” Yusuke said.

“Oh?” Akira asked breathlessly. “What did you think about?”

“Are we both exploiting our sexual fantasies now?” Yusuke chuckled.

“Only if you want to.” Akira laughed back. He busied himself with slipping Yusuke’s pants down slightly to free his cock trying to resist whistling at the sight of it. God he was thirsty.

“Well, it seems only fair.” Yusuke rasped as Akira wrapped his fingers around his length. Yusuke clumsily slipped into the front of Akira’s pants. “It starts almost like this, the two of us touching each other and kissing- ah! Mmm…”

“Good?” Akira asked pumping his hand.

“Yes…I must admit this is better than doing it on your own.” Yusuke said his long fingers wrapping around Akira’s shaft causing the other boy to gasp. Yusuke kissed him before pulling back and continuing. “You push up against me moaning and I can kiss and mark your skin as I please.”

“It does sound nice.” Akira whispered.

“But I get the urge to tease you and drag your orgasm out longer.” Yusuke hummed. “I just want to hear how you sound.”

“T-teasing- oh…yeah like that do that…” Akira trailed off moaning while Yusuke jerked him off. “Teasing is so mean.”

“I love your voice.” Yusuke rasped. “It’s so beautiful, hearing you now like this…it’s driving me wild.”

“Oh…Yusuke.” Akira sighed happily smiling up at him. “Your voice drives me crazy, it’s so..o.soo..” He broke off moaning as Yusuke suddenly picked up the pace. “S-shit Yusuke I-”

He wasn’t expecting Yusuke to flip them over so he was on top of Akira. He really wasn’t expecting Yusuke to suddenly boldly snatch his hands away, throw his pants down and start _grinding._

He definitely wasn’t expecting his voice to get so high pitched and crack.

But fuck fuck fuck it felt so good. Sliding, grinding, rubbing. The feeling of Yusuke gripping his wrists pinning him to the bed. The feeling of his teeth grazing his collarbone. Shit. It felt so fucking good.

“Yusuke!” He moaned and Yusuke kissed him hard. The kiss was straight up dirty. Yusuke was having a hard time of trying to keep focused on it with his hips stuttering and his soft moans. Akira could barely contain his. So much so they were leaking out of the kiss.

“Akira you’re so gorgeous.” Yusuke rasped, Akira wrapped his legs against his boyfriend’s waist grinding up against him. He was so close. He needed Yusuke closer and knocked his hands out of his grasp pulling the other boy closer. He was so close he could feel it. He was vaguely aware of Yusuke whispering something into his ear but he was so far gone now.

He tensed up then arched off the bed as his orgasm came. He let out a loud moan his voice cracking part way through as Yusuke kept grinding their dicks together. He felt so sensitive after his orgasm but Yusuke grinding against him still felt soooo good. He moaned softer and shivered snapping his hips up once before collapsing against the bed breathlessly.

“Breathtaking…” Yusuke rasped drawing him out of his orgasm haze. Somewhere along the line he lost his shirt? His chest was splattered with cum, he didn’t really care looking up at Yusuke’s flushed face.

“That was so good…” He drawled with a smile.

“That expression on your face is downright sinful Akira.” Yusuke said as Akira cupped his cheeks.

“I don’t think I’ve ever cum so hard.” He confessed. “You…I like it when you take control like that.”

“I like having you lose yourself like that.” Yusuke replied pressing a kiss to his lips. “Let’s get cleaned up.”

“Can we cuddle after?” Akira asked still sort of dazed.

“Of course.” Yusuke chuckled. They both got up to clean each other up. Later they went to sleep snuggled up to each other. He counted himself lucky that night for not being brought to the Velvet Room.

 

 

The next day they were due to go into Mementos one last time before sending the calling card. Akira had made sure he put on the turtleneck for his uniform before everyone came to the meeting. And maybe just maybe he started at himself in the mirror getting giddy about the marks Yusuke had left on him. Next time he would have to return the favour.

Akira sent Yusuke down to grab a few supplies from Tae after sending her a message and letting her know he would be doing it. He would have gone himself but if Akechi was going to arrive early again he would prefer it if he were there.

Surely enough Akechi was the first one to arrive.

“Hello Akira, we’re hitting the Metaverse today correct?” He greeted.

“Yeah, then we’ll send the calling card.” Akira confirmed. “Would you like some coffee while we wait for everyone to come? I sent Yusuke on an errand and he should be back soon.”

“I would love a cup if that’s alright.” Akechi replied with a small smile. The detective sat down at the bar while Akira worked at making him a cup of coffee.

Halfway through making the coffee he noticed Akechi was staring.

“Is something the matter?” He asked.

“Oh no nothing.” Akechi replied. “I just wondered if you had fun with Yusuke last night, it certainly looks like you did.”

“I…” Akira trailed off using a free hand to feel around his neck.

“Oh they’re hidden quite well.” Akechi chuckled. “There’s only slightly a hint of one poking out.”

“Well, hopefully the others don’t notice.” Akira laughed placing the cup of finished coffee in front of Akechi.

“I’m sure they won’t.” Akechi replied taking a sip of his coffee. He placed the cup down gently and looked thoughtful for a moment before looking back up at Akira. “Akira would you consider being wi-”

The bell chimed as Yusuke came back. Noticing Akechi he nodded as a greeting.

“Good morning Akechi.” He greeted.

“Good morning Yusuke.” Akechi replied.

“What did you want to ask?” Akira asked him but Akechi just shook his head and smiled.

“No it’s nothing. I answered my own question. This is delicious coffee. Thank you.” He said. Akira just nodded deciding not to push the issue. He went over to sort his inventory with Yusuke.

“Takemi didn’t give you any trouble did she? You were gone for a bit.” He asked.

“No, she was quite accommodating.” Yusuke replied leaning over to look at Akechi. Akira picked through the pile of stuff he got. “She did ask if you were sending me over as a guinea pig?”

“She was just joking.” Akira chuckled. “Anyway, good job.”

“Thank you.” Yusuke said smiling. Then he grabbed Akira’s ass. It wasn’t a gentle fondle either. He also did it just as Ann, Ryuji, and Futaba walked in the door. Akira let out an embarrassed squawk and Futaba burst out laughing while Ann snickered behind her hand.

“Dude…” Ryuji trailed off. Akira smacked Yusuke’s arm blushing furiously. Yusuke just laughed and Akira went to make some drinks for everyone until the rest of them arrived.

 

It felt tense in Mementos today. Not just the overall atmosphere but his team as well. After taking a bit too much damage Joker swapped Panther out for Crow. Between the two of them they carried the team. Joker couldn’t help but wonder how things could be if Crow joined them.

He could see Akechi getting along with the rest of the team. He could talk to Ann about media things that annoyed him. He could brainstorm with Makoto about endless theories. He could talk about coffee with Haru and different café’s they had been to. He and Ryuji could train together and have a friendly competition. Futaba would probably get him into videos games, specifically puzzle and mystery ones or rpgs. Akira could see Akechi getting hooked on them.

Then there was Akechi and Yusuke. Despite how it seemed like they disliked each other they could probably get along well. He could see them having talks about their favourite foods, or both of them just sitting together silently doing their work occasionally talking about whatever they were working on and getting lost in thought over it.

“Joker!” Queen yelled trying to pull the wheel to make the van swerve but it had been too late and they were ambushed.

“You’re surrounded by three enemies!” Oracle called as they all grouped together. Now was not the time to be dwelling on if Akechi joined them fully. Crow skilfully dodged the first attack while Fox countered the second but Queen was hit with confusion. The attack from the third shadow hit him directly and knocked him off his feet.

“Oh no Joker’s down!” Oracle cried. “S-”

It happened so fast. The next attack was against his persona’s weakness and a critical at that. He could feel everything going black.

But not quite.

Somehow he managed to just stay stable. He looked up and caught Crow’s eye. They stared at each other for a bit. Queen hadn’t healed him. Fox knocked her status ailment away and she healed him further.

The defeated the shadows and were climbing into the Monabus. Joker grabbed Crow by the shoulder but the other boy just smiled at him.

“What is it leader?” He asked.

_Why?_ Was what he wanted to ask. Why did he save him? Maybe he wanted the satisfaction of killing him himself but…looking at his expression Joker didn’t think that were so.

“Nothing. Sorry.” Joker said and climbed into the driver seat.

“Please be careful next time Joker.” Fox said. Joker just hummed in response.

Akechi and Akira could be friends. Akechi could finally not be so lonely anymore.

But…it wasn’t meant to be. Akira wished he could change it.

 

After sending out the calling card Akira prepared himself for the infiltration. Well, distracted himself from the anxiety eating away at him. So many things could go wrong.  He was making lockpicks when Morgana hopped up on the desk and batted them out of his hands rudely.

“Hey!” He exclaimed.

“Akira I know there’s a lot riding on you but you need to get some rest.” The cat replied placing his paw over Akira’s hand.

“I need the infiltration tools for tom-”

“You have fifteen lock picks already Akira.” Morgana interrupted.

“Okay but I-”

“Akira.” Morgana huffed glaring at him.

“I can’t sleep.” He confessed. “There’s so much pressure I know what I need to do but I can’t relax enough to go to sleep.”

“Call Yusuke. You probably have something you want to say to him too.” Morgana replied gently then hopped off the desk and curled up on the couch. Right on one of Akira’s jumpers. As usual Akira didn’t have the heart to tell him off about it. When he was sure Morgana was asleep he called Yusuke who picked up instantly.

_“Akira, hello.”_ He greeted. _“I was just about to call you.”_

“Can’t sleep either?” Akira asked.

_“Yes…Tomorrow will be unlike all our other heists.”_ Yusuke sighed.

“Want to talk until we’re tired?” He asked earning a hum of approval. He grabbed some earphones and switched off the light before snuggling up into his bed.

_“Are you in bed?”_ Yusuke asked.

“You make it sound like we’re having phone sex.” Akira laughed.

_“There’s an idea.”_ Yusuke teased.

“Truth be told…I’m worried about tomorrow.” Akira started. “I…there’s so much at stake.”

_“Yes…it may be a bit…hmm.”_ Yusuke trailed off.

“What is it?” Akira asked.

_“Even knowing he was the traitor I still…”_ Yusuke stopped again. _“I’ve gotten used to him being in our group.”_

“I…I know what you mean.” Akira sighed. “He…I wish he would join us properly. I…let’s talk about something else. This is just getting upsetting. How has your art been lately?”

_“As you wish. Oh! I managed to make a mural for those two lobsters I found in Hawaii.”_ Yusuke said excitedly and Akira couldn’t help but snort out a laugh.

“Oh?” He asked.

_“The student next to me called it odd but I think he doesn’t appreciate true art.”_ Yusuke huffed. _“I will show it to you sometime, as well as the other paintings of them.”_

“Did you really just paint lobsters?” Akira chuckled.

_“No, of course I painted you as well.”_ His boyfriend replied sounding as if Akira had just asked him the dumbest question.

“Wait no do you mean you painted me with the lobsters?” Akira asked. “Or do you mean that like there are paintings of lobsters and paintings of me?”

_“….”_ Akira was met with silence.

“Yusuke. Did you paint me with lobsters?” He asked.

_“To be fair…I didn’t paint them.”_ Yusuke answered.

“What…okay what am I doing with the lobsters?” Akira asked.

_“Now who’s making it sound like weird phone sex?”_ Yusuke mumbled. _“In one picture, I will admit Ryuji and Ann suggested it to me, you are posed lounging on a couch with a lobster censoring your crotch.”_

“Of course they would suggest that!” Akira exclaimed then choked laughing as he imagined Yusuke drawing that out. His brows drawn together in concentration while he censored him with a lobster. “And the others?”

_“Remember the pose of anguish we made in the church? That, however you’re holding two lobsters.”_ Yusuke told him and Akira muffled his laughter by laughing into his pillow.

“You’re amazing.” He chuckled. “I will have to see these.”

_“One day you must model for me again.”_ Yusuke said. _“I want to capture all your expressions.”_

“Even my orgasm face?” He said without thinking.

_“That would be marvellous.”_ Yusuke answered without hesitation then chuckled softly. _“And having you reach that would be quite enjoyable.”_

“You’re cheeky.” Akira laughed.

They talked for a while, just about whatever came to mind. After a while they both started to get tired and said some silly things.

“I think I’m gonna go to hang up now before I pass out.” Akira mumbled. “I’ll see you tomorrow I…I love you.”

_“Sleep well Akira. I love you too.”_ Yusuke said softly.

Akira dreamt of going on a boat ride date with Yusuke. They stopped under a large tree and cuddled as the lake gently rocked their boat. They made their way back to the bank but their boat tipped over and they fell into the water. Instead of being upset they just started a splash fight which Yusuke lost because Akira decided to pounce on him and kiss him.

Waking up realising he was going to get arrested again was not fun. But he was set to do it.


	8. Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I realise some people might not like Akechi. Anyway. This is not a happy chapter. Very Canon Divergent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In other news I'm gonna post random oneshots soon and feel free to request things for it when I post it aha

 

It took all of what Yusuke had to not chase after Akira when he played the diversion to follow their plan. Akechi took lead of their group and led them safely out of the palace with Futaba’s navigation. It left a bitter taste in his mouth when they escaped and returned to the real world. The relieved smile on Akechi’s face made him livid. He didn’t know that they knew he was the traitor. Despite what he had said last night to Akira he wanted to punch the detective.

“We made it.” Akechi breathed. “We should split up and see if Akira made it out safely.”

“Good idea.” Makoto said. They each ran off in a different direction with the intention of meeting up another day knowing that neither Akechi nor Akira would return.

 

It wasn’t until a few days later the news that the leader of the Phantom Thieves was caught spread like wildfire. Yusuke went to school and it was all anyone talked about.

“Did you hear? The leader got caught!”

“It was only a matter of time, Akechi-san was on the case!”

“I can’t believe Akechi caught the leader!”

“Akechi is so amazing!”

Hearing Akechi’s name so many times made him want to puke. Akechi was taking all the credit for it. Perhaps he thought they were insignificant now because Akira was arrested. He was grateful when the groupchat lit up and there was a meeting to be held at LeBlanc. Yusuke made his way there immediately after school.

 

Yusuke walked in to see everyone else there but also Makoto’s sister Sae Niijima. He sat down with their group.

“Sis I didn’t expect you to be here.” Makoto said. Sae looked at her confused.

“What do you mean?” She asked. Yusuke felt his stomach drop. Without Sae interrogating Akira their plan would fail and Akechi would kill Akira. He jumped up in a panic just as Sojiro turned the news up.

_“The top news today! The leader of the Phantom Theives has been captured!”_

“What?!” Sae exclaimed jumping out of her seat.

“Y-you didn’t know?” Makoto asked. “It’s been three days.”

Thankfully Sae was too preoccupied with packing up her things to notice Makoto’s slip up.

“Makoto I don’t know if I will be home. Make sure you eat dinner.” She said and left money on the counter for the coffee. She ran out of the café and Sojiro walked over to flip the sign to ‘closed’.

“Mind explainin’ why it took you three days to tell me Akira was taken by the cops?” He asked, his voice had a hard edge to it. Futaba shifted nervously in her seat. She was supposed to have told Sojiro but she hadn’t ended up doing it. Sojiro slammed his fist down on the counter and they all jumped.

“We’re getting him out!” She squawked.

“Boss we do have a plan. Having Akira caught was…it was part of the plan.” Yusuke said struggling. He hated saying it. They fed him to the wolves. God only know what they were doing to him. They hadn’t accounted for Sae not knowing. Sojiro paced back and forth.

“Futaba couldn’t you use your hacking skills to check up on him?” He asked.

“I…I could but…” She trailed off.

“Akira told us not to.” Makoto finished then hesitated. “It…now that sis is heading over I’m sure it’ll be fine but…”

“He didn’t want us to check because it would make us enraged.” Haru said calmly, though Yusuke could see the white knuckled grip she had on the end of her sweater.

“Because they’re torturing him.” Sojiro said bluntly. The room fell silent. “They call it an interrogation but that’s not what it is at all, not for the crimes he’s supposedly committed. Are you even sure he’s alive?”

“Akechi wanted to kill him and have it look like a suicide.” Futaba said fidgeting with her phone. “All his calls to the person behind it mentioned it a lot.”

“Then he was going to gain extra points from the public by being sympathetic towards Akira.” Makoto added. “It’s only come out today that Akechi caught him so he’s trying to soak up as much media attention as possible.”

“It pisses me off!” Ryuji exclaimed punching the table. “We can’t do shit and he’s stuck there enduring god knows what!”

“Ryuji calm down!” Morgana hissed. “You don’t think we’re all feeling that way?”

“Even the cat’s worked up as well huh?” Sojiro sighed. “You kids...If you need to talk about this stuff more you can come in and use Akira’s room. Futaba I’ll give you a key but make sure you return it.”

“Thanks Sojiro…sorry for not telling you…” She mumbled.

“How are you holding up kid?” Yusuke took a few moments to realise that was directed at him.

“Before he ran off to be the diversion Akira told me he loved me…” Yusuke trailed off and frowned at the table. “I was…I am so terrified that that’s going to be the last words I hear from him. Every time I wake up from a dream where we’re together I get reminded of the bitter reality of things. Every time someone says Akechi’s name I want to find him and hurt him. I’m on an emotional rollercoaster.”

“I-It’ll be okay! Akira’s strong!” Ann pipped up. But they all knew she was just as terrified as they were. Three days. What if he couldn’t make Sae believe him?

They sat in silence.

“Look. You should all go home for tonight.” Sojiro said. “Futaba you should keep surveillance of that Akechi kid just in case.” Futaba nodded. “I’m going to lock up for now, get some rest.”

Yusuke barely remembered getting on the train towards Kosei. His mind was racing. It had been three days. Akira had been suffering for _three days_. He felt like he was going to be sick. It was only pure coincidence that Sae had been at LeBlanc at the same time as them. Makoto said she hadn’t been home and they all assumed she was interrogating Akira.

What if the worst truly was going to happen? What if Akechi succeeded?

What would they all do if Akira really died?

Yusuke would just have to hope that things worked out.

 

 

 

They had done a number on him. By the time Sae got to him Akira had been drugged and beaten to a point he barely realised what was going on anymore. They at least had the decency to let him go to the bathroom although, it was in a bucket with at least three guards watching him and it was utterly humiliating.

But finally Sae came to him and listened to him. He told her nothing but the truth aside from when it came to officially naming his collaborators. He could see that she was relieved but also torn. She was committing a child to a fate he didn’t deserve, but he protected her sister by not officially naming her.

His recount of everything was so hazy he almost forgot the most important part. Getting Sae to show Akechi the phone. He pushed his point as much as he could before he was left on his own.

It had to be about ten minutes before Akechi walked in with a guard. When the door closed he stole the guard’s gun and shot him dead.

“Thanks.” He started blank faced. “Everything you and your friends did helped our plan considerably, I truly am grateful.” Akechi turned to him. “We can use that popularity of yours as well for our favour. It’s truly amazing.”

Akira just stared at him silently.

“Did you piece it all together now at least?” He asked smiling slightly. “This is how the case closes and your justice ends.”

He pressed the gun to his forehead and Akira stared up at him wide eyed. The warped smile, the cold eyes, he could have been a shadow had his eyes been yellow.

Akechi’s finger moved to the trigger. But Akira couldn’t let him just yet.

“Wait.” He rasped. “I…please let me know one thing before you do it.”

Akechi looked at him, finger on the trigger but not pulling it. Akira thought for a second he would just shoot him, the question was personal so it didn’t really matter for their plan but he wanted to know.

“Alright.” Akechi laughed. “I’ll humour you, go ahead.” He kept pointing the gun at him but moved it away from his forehead.

“You could have let me die in Mementos.” Akira started his voice scratchy. “But you saved me, no one else noticed but I did. Why? My death there could have thrown the rest of the team into chaos.”

“It didn’t fit our plan.” Akechi laughed. “Did you think it might be more than that? That I might like you and your friends?”

“You’re smart. You could have dragged my body out of Mementos and claimed that I was dangerous and you had no choice but to shoot.” Akira replied. “You could have earned more points with the media that way by killing a killer in self-defence. But you didn’t. You didn’t even mention it to the team to earn our trust further to make your betrayal easier so wh-” Akechi grabbed him by the throat and he let out a strangled cry, the puncture marks from the needles in his neck were still tender.

“Shut up.” He growled. “Like I need you or your shitty friends for anything.”

“You’re lonely.” Akira rasped. “You’re lonely and suffering.”

“You don’t know me.” Akechi scoffed squeezing tighter.

“I…can see…. you though.” Akira replied. Akechi let go of him and he wheezed and coughed for a bit. “It’s not too late. You could join us still. I meant it when I said you would be an invaluable member to us. As a teammate and a friend.”

Akechi said nothing, he looked like he was considering it. But he just laughed.

“You are so interesting.” He said. “I was right to get involved. Now… is that all?”

“I…yes.” Akira bowed his head solemnly.

“Then, allow me to indulge in something I’ve wanted to do.” Akechi reached forward and grabbed a fist full of his hair then yanked his head back and kissed him.

He went straight in for it pushing his tongue past Akira’s dry lips and shoving it roughly in his mouth. Akira could taste the blood from his split lip. He whined when Akechi tugged his hair sharply and felt the detective smirk against his mouth. After a few moments Akechi pulled back then bit into his neck hard causing Akira to whimper from how tender his neck. He almost screamed when the pressure got harder, he must have broke the skin. When Akechi pulled back he had blood on his lips and teeth. The detective licked it away.

“It’s been a pleasure leader.” He said smiling again as he pressed the barrel to Akira’s forehead. “Goodbye.”

Blood pooled down his face and his body fell forward to collapse on the desk. Akechi poked the corpse a few times with the end of the silencer before smiling and taking off the silencer, placing it into his blazer pocket before putting the gun in Akira’s hand. He looked at his handiwork one more time before leaving the room.

 

The news came out. The suicide of the leader of the Phantom Thieves. While they knew it wasn’t true because Futaba had confirmed that Sae had followed the plan it still shocked them deeply.

Ann had been modelling and couldn’t focus on the rest of her shoot almost tearing up when she thought about it too long.

Ryuji had gone to look at some new shoes and was so out of it when he saw the news he almost screamed when the lady at the store spoke to him. He was thankful for the distraction.

Haru was with Makoto on a study date. They both gripped their pens so hard they almost broke turning pale. They sat closer and held hands for a bit in silence to try and calm down.

Futaba had been in her room and almost forgot their plan just instantly searching the web before she slowly stopped. She stared at her laptop screen.

Yusuke had taken the painting he tried to work on in class home and almost dropped it in shock when he saw the news on his phone. The dread crawling up his throat almost choked him but he remembered the plan.

After the initial shock they all took a collective breath. The plan was a success. Now to wait.

 

Two days passed and they started to panic. Sae hadn’t been home and Makoto called an emergency meeting in LeBlanc. Everyone dropped what they were doing and raced over just as Sojiro was flipping the sign over again. Futaba pushed Sojiro out of the way and opened the door for them. It hadn’t been that late but Sojiro had been closing the store earlier lately to spend time with Futaba. Obviously hearing the news report about Akira had shaken him.

“This can’t be, I don’t understand!” Ann panicked grabbing the ends of her pigtails.

“We did everything right yeah?” Ryuji asked then slammed his hand down on the bench. “God damn it! Where is he?”

“Watch the bar kid.” Sojiro scolded but it was weak.

“Sis hasn’t been home I haven’t been able to ask her…what if it didn’t work?” Makoto ran a hand through her hair. She itched to pace but Haru guided her to a booth silently.

“I-I’m pretty sure she followed the instructions…” Futaba’s hands shook as she looked over her phone. “This can’t- I can’t have stuffed this up!”

“Has Sae-san come by at all Boss?” Haru asked Sojiro who shook his head.

“Not at all.” His answer seemed to send them further into despair. Yusuke bounced his leg and checked his phone. Maybe Akira would text them? No it seemed unlikely. If he…if he was gone as well there was no way to know for sure…

“He has to be fine! The plan was perfect!” Morgana yowled but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

“Would you all te-”

There was a soft tap at the door, they all quietened down and looked to the door. Sojiro opened it revealing Tae Takemi.

“Sorry, we’re closed for today.” Sojiro said.

“Is that so?” Takemi replied. “Sorry but I’m here on a delivery run.” Takemi pushed the door open wide and walked in with Sae following her.

“Y-you can’t just-” Sojiro spluttered.

“It’s alright Boss.” Sae said. Immediately everyone surrounded Sae as she walked further in. Takemi left the building.

“What happened sis?” Makoto asked. “Please did you fol-” Sae smiled at her sadly.

“No, no no no you don’t mean that he….” Futaba trailed off tears immediately filling her eyes. Ann gasped a tear rolling down her cheek. Haru and Ryuji looked shaken.

“What?” Sae asked alarmed at their reaction.

“A-Akira is…” Makoto choked out as Sojiro opened the door for Takemi.

“You kids all jump to conclusions.” She sighed. “Though I suppose I do as well sometimes.” They looked at her noticing this time that someone in a hood was behind her. Someone with a very familiar posture.

Akira pulled his hood down and gave them a weak smile. Yusuke scrambled out of his chair almost tripping as he pulled his boyfriend in for a hug.

“Ouch careful lover boy.” Takemi remarked. But he ignored her.

“It hurts Yusuke…please a little gentler okay?” Akira rasped. Yusuke loosened his grip. He could feel Akira’s breath, he could feel his warmth, he could see and touch him.

“Akira…” He said fondly his voice cracking. “Akira.” He pulled back to look at his boyfriend tears rolling freely down his cheeks.

Akira was paler, the bruising under his eye, on his cheek, and on his neck showed up clearly. The bags under his eyes, the few scratches he had, the cut to his bottom lip…the longer Yusuke looked the angrier he felt.

They did that to him. There was no telling how much he had been bruised under his clothes as well. He shakily brought his hands up to Akira’s face and softly stroked his cheeks.

“I was so scared.” He found himself saying. Akira put his arms around his waist and he was gone sobbing uncontrollably “I…I was so scared.”

“Oh Yusuke I’m so sorry.” Akira whispered. He guided them, slowly because he was limping, to sit down holding Yusuke’s hand. As he passed the others he grabbed half hugs from them before settling in the booth next to Yusuke smoothing a hand through his hair as his boyfriend cried. Yusuke noticed the dark purple bruises and scrapes to his hands and gently held his hand giving it a small kiss.

 

After welcoming their leader back, and after receiving a quick explanation as to how Tae knew they were Phantom Thieves, they all sat down and explained what happened and the entire plan to Sojiro, Sae, and Takemi. They listened to them intently and were surprised at their elaborate plan.

“I have to ask…why did it take so long for Akira to come back?” Haru asked calmly. She was met with silence and slammed her fist down on the table. “Why?!”

“I was unconscious.” Akira replied reaching over to place a hand over Haru’s fist. “I told Sae to take me to Takemi’s clinic and passed out on the way.”

“They drugged him, tortured him, starved him…his body couldn’t take the strain in the end.” Takemi told them. “They did a number on him. Part of the reason I’m here is because I’m not convinced I should be letting him walk about. He’ll need to stay with someone for a bit. I can only keep him in my clinic for so long before people get suspicious. I’ll come in to check on him.”

“I can stay with him.” Yusuke said.

“You have school Yusuke.” Akira said. “You can’t ju-”

“School isn’t as important to me as you are right now.” Yusuke interrupted. “You were hurt badly Akira.”

“Alright alright, Yusuke we can leave you to take care of him during the night. Futaba and I will watch him while you’re at school.” Sojiro said. “You can’t neglect your education.”

“I’ll most likely be sleeping.” Akira added.

“We need to get to the more serious part of your injuries.” Takemi interrupted. “With whatever you did in the cognitive world you were able to fix part of yourself up, not that I understand how that worked…you will have to show me one day. I am unsure if you’re aware but you did wake up a few times under my care.”

“I did?” Akira replied looking confused.

“You were suffering either night terrors or drug induced hallucinations. All you did was scream.” Takemi said softly. “I don’t know if it’s just part of one of the drugs making you wake up however you did start to get violent. Not only will your physical scars run deep but your mental ones will as well. You need to take time off thieving to heal.”

“Of course…” Akira trailed off. He looked like he didn’t want to because of how important their task was but everyone fixed him with a glare. Yusuke was going to make sure he rested.

“Now lover boy,” Takemi said and it took Yusuke a bit to realise she was talking about him. “You’re going to need to reap-”

“Maybe Yusuke shouldn’t stay with me during the night.” Akira said suddenly. Yusuke recoiled hurt by Akira’s words. Takemi fixed Akira with a look then pulled some bottles out of a bag to show Yusuke.

“You’re going to need to reapply some cream and bandages to his body every night. This cream is the disinfectant for the cuts, this is for the bruising, and this is for the pain.” Takemi said. “He doesn’t want you to stay because of how bad his wounds are. He doesn’t want to make any of you feel guilty.”

“Takemi!” Akira hissed.

“Even I don’t know the full extent of your injuries.” Sae said.

“Look kid you should just show them. Futaba is probably going to hack the security footage to see what was done to you.” Sojiro spoke up.

“Sojiro even you’re asking me to strip?” Akira gasped trying to avoid the topic but Sojiro fixed him with a look.

“Akira stop trying to dodge it.” He said.

“You…if it makes you uncomfortable you don’t have to.” Ann said softly. “But we don’t want to accidentally hurt you by slapping you on the back or anything.”

“Maybe…maybe another day.” Akira replied. “For now let’s talk about what to do next.” Akira tried to stand up but he faltered and almost fell over. Thankfully Yusuke caught him.

“Dude no you need to rest.” Ryuji huffed.

“We don’t have time to-”

“There’s time Akira.” Yusuke said softly and looked up at him pleadingly. “Please…please just rest and recover.” Akira looked as if he were ready to argue but closed his mouth and just nodded silently.

“For now I think it’s best we let him get some rest and meet up tomorrow.” Makoto said. “Please get some rest Akira. We’re all glad you’re back safely.”

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Akira said nodding. Nobody moved for a second and Akira looked at them puzzled.

“Ah I should head back to my clinic, lover boy everything in here is what you’ll need.” Takemi said putting a bag onto the counter and it sounded so dirty when she said it like that.

“I’ll walk you two out.” Sojiro said leading Sae and Takemi out of the store. As soon as they left the others got up to leave, so Akira stood up to walk them out when they all surrounded him giving him a group hug. “I-I huh?”

“Thank effing god man.” Ryuji sighed.

“We were so worried.” Ann added.

“I know you couldn’t help it but next time I’m going to kick your ass for being so late!” Futaba exclaimed and hastily rubbed away some stray tears. Akira smiled at them and hugged as many of them as he could.

“We’ll be off now alright.” Haru said. “Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.”

“Thanks guys.” Akira said softly. “Travel safe on your way home.”

They waved everyone off but Yusuke stayed behind.

“Yusuke aren’t you going as well?” Akira asked.

“No, is…is that okay?” Yusuke asked shyly. “I just…you’ve only just returned home and you might want to rest on your own for a bit but-”

“Truth be told…I don’t want to be alone right now.” Akira whispered interrupting him. “I haven’t been awake for long. I’m scared that this is a dream and that I’ll wake up and they’ll still be…”

The way Akira’s voice quivered and trailed off broke Yusuke’s heart. He took his boyfriend’s hand gently. Sojiro had come back to lock the door and so they turned off the lights downstairs and went up to the attic where the heater had been set up and running leaving the attic at least partially warm. Akira’s bed was also made nicely with a few extra blankets.

Akira started to struggle a bit after they came up the stairs so Yusuke guided him to the couch to sit down. Morgana jumped up into Akira’s lap and started rubbing his head against Akira while making another sound that sounded like he was crying.

“I’ll go fetch what the doctor left if you want to get changed.” He said as a way to give Akira and Morgana some privacy. As much as Morgana did like them all he had a special bond with Akira. Yusuke tried to give them as much time as he could walking slowly to get the bag. He opened it and saw that Takemi had left some detailed instructions in it as well as a guide on how he should bandage Akira’s wounds and how many pain killers he could take. He also found that Sojiro had left him so night clothes so he went to change into those.

He wandered back upstairs slowly and when he reached the top his gut dropped.

Akira was standing there shirtless wincing as he pulled the shirt off his body. His chest was covered in gauzes and a few spots on his arms and hips were littered with bandages. Akira avoided eye contact and moved to grab the change of clothes he had set out but Yusuke came over and stopped him.

“We need to redress your wounds.” He said, Akira refused to meet his eyes. “They won’t heal if you do-”

“I know!” Akira exclaimed interrupting him then he spoke softer. “I know I just…It’s not pretty.”

“Akira I would never judge or stop loving you because you’re bruised and beaten.” Yusuke said sadly and the boy shook his head.

“No, it’s not that.” Akira replied. “I know it’s going to upset you and make you angry.”

“I cannot guarantee that I would not be upset or angry. But you need treatment.” Yusuke said. “I’m not going to go out in a blind rage to hurt the ones who hurt you. I just want to take care of you.” Yusuke reached forward and gently put a hand to Akira’s cheek. Akira leaned into his palm and placed his hand on top of Yusuke’s before sighing softly.

“Alright.” He said. “I’ll need your help.”

Yusuke helped Akira take off the multiple bandages and gauzes he had on. Akira had to shift to take his pants off where even more were. As soon as they finished Yusuke felt pain and anger swelling in his being.

Akira was paler so each wound showed up harshly. His chest and legs were covered in large ugly bruises with small ones littered everywhere else. His arms and parts of his hips were scraped in multiple places leaving harsh dark red streaks. There were multiple puncture marks in his arms, legs, and neck. Then there were a few red marks and bruises shaped like fingers along his throat, wrists, and ankles. The worst had to be the gashes across his back. Something had cut him bad enough to leave horrifying jagged cuts. However one of the strangest was on the side of his neck. It looked like small cuts but…more like a bite mark? He would have to ask about that.

As Yusuke looked upon him he noticed that Akira was shaking, and it wasn’t from the cold since they were right next to the heater. Yusuke silently got to work disinfecting and bandaging his wounds.

Each hiss of pain and sharp whine that came from Akira’s mouth each time Yusuke hit a particularly tender spot made his blood boil. Each flinch and shudder was permanently etched into his mind. They had to pull over a chair for Akira to sit on after his legs grew too weak. He looked up at his boyfriend while tending to the wounds on his legs. Had he not known he would have taken the way Akira fidgeted with his scraped fingers and the way he glanced around for nerves. But with the slight tremble of his skin under his hand Yusuke knew it was fear.

“Is it painful?” He asked voice tight. Akira jumped slightly.

“Ah…yes.” Akira said slowly.

“I see.” Yusuke said.

He finished bandaging Akira’s wounds silently and helped him get dressed. He went downstairs and came back with some water. He handed Akira the glass with two painkillers. Akira took it and glanced at him nervously.

“Take it.” Yusuke said not realising how curt he sounded. Akira downed it in a flash and hung his head low.

“Y-Yusuke please…” He whispered. Yusuke tilted his head to the side. “Please…I know you’re angry with them but you’re scaring me right now.”

Oh no. No that was not what he…

“I’m…Akira I’m sorry.” Yusuke said softly. “I just… I didn’t want to go into a rage when I saw your wounds so I bit my tongue…I hadn’t meant for my demeanour to come off threateningly.”

“I know…I know Yusuke.” Akira said slowly.

“Shall we go to bed?” Yusuke asked. Akira shook his head.

“Not yet…can we stay up for a little bit, I’m slightly afraid of going to sleep.” Akira replied.

“Understandable.” Yusuke said nodding. They sat down in front of the heater in silence. The only sound they heard was Morgana purring in his sleep. It was awkward. But Yusuke had no idea what he should even speak about. He was still angry over the abuse his boyfriend suffered. Akira was still slightly shaking.

What could he do to calm him down? Maybe they could talk about art, oh though on the note Takemi wrote that the painkillers would make it hard for him to focus as well as having a drowsy effect. Oh wait. He knew what he could do.

“Akira?” Yusuke called softly. Akira looked up at him with a soft hum of acknowledgement. “Would you like me to sing for you?”

“Huh? You…I’ve never heard you sing?” Akira said confused. Then a smile broke out on his face. “Please sing for me.” Yusuke smiled and opened his mouth to sing.

Akira relaxed against him closing his eyes. Gradually he stopped shaking just listening to Yusuke as he sang. Yusuke could feel his face heating up. He had never sung for anyone before. It felt different to showing his art to others. Partway through the song Akira started to sing along softly. His voice was a little hoarse but it made Yusuke’s heart swell.

When they finished the song Yusuke looked down at Akira with a big smile only to see Akira looking up at him with his eyes sparkling.

“You have such an amazing singing voice!” He praised. “That was beautiful.”

“Thank you for singing with me.” Yusuke beamed. “It was a wonderful duet.”

“Your voice is so wonderful Yusuke.” Akira smiled up at him, eyes slightly unfocused. “I love it…I love **you**.” The emphasis made Yusuke blush darkly and avert his gaze.

“Shall we sleep?” He asked and felt Akira nod. Yusuke helped Akira to his feet and he knew the medication was kicking in with how much more Akira staggered. Once he plopped his boyfriend onto the bed he went back to turn off the heater and then snuggle up next to him. Akira looked up at him and smiled.

“Can I have a goodnight kiss?” He asked and Yusuke couldn’t say no. It was a small short kiss that made Yusuke’s heart do flips. It had been so long. He tangled their legs together and gently wrapped his arms around Akira who sighed into his touch.

“Goodnight Akira.” Yusuke said softly.

“Goodnight Yusuke, I love you.” Akira said smiling.

 

Yusuke bolted awake to the sound of screaming. He slipped out of the bed finding Akira wasn’t beside him and dashed around frantically looking for Akira. He found him in the corner with his knees tucked up to his chest whimpering. Morgana was nowhere to be seen. He sighed with relief his sleep dazed mind thought his boyfriend was hurt.

“Akira.” He took a step towards Akira who snapped his head up and held his hands up blocking his face. Yusuke stopped.

“Please…please no more…” Akira half sobbed. “I don’t know anything….please stop.”

Yusuke froze, Akira thought he was going to hurt him. Maybe he was hallucinating from the leftover drugs in his system? Or memories of the ‘interrogation’?

“Akira-” Yusuke said but Akira whimpered again and Yusuke didn’t think his heart could break further. Surely Akira could recognize- oh…he didn’t have his glasses on and his eyesight was pretty bad. He stepped a little closer to get to the light switch but Akira started trembling and whimpering repeating the word ‘no’ over and over again so Yusuke stepped back.

He walked around until he found Akira’s glasses which had been knocked onto the floor. He picked them up and walked over again but stopped a bit further away and carefully slid Akira’s glasses and his phone over to him. Akira looked down at the objects and took a moment to realise what they were before he looked back up.

“I wanted to turn the light on.” Yusuke said having absolutely no clue what to say. He stepped back and watched Akira put his glasses on and pick up his phone. Akira checked his phone then looked around and ran towards Yusuke who caught him in a hug.

“Yusuke- I thought…I thought it was a dream I thought it was a dream.” Akira snuggled into his shoulder still shaking.

“Come back to bed?” Yusuke suggested to which Akira nodded. He probably felt cold.

They climbed back into bed and Akira practically clung to Yusuke as if he were about to disappear. Yusuke carded his fingers through Akira’s hair softly. He started to hum the song they sang earlier and had Akira rest his head on his chest. It took a while for Akira to stop shaking so much.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“I’m better now…sorry about that.” Akira replied softly. But the slight trembling of his hand against Yusuke’s back was quite telling.

“Nonsense, you went through a lot.” Yusuke said brushing a few strands of curled hair behind Akira’s ear. “Would you like me to sing for you again?” Akira said nothing but nodded and Yusuke started to sing a different song softly. Though it took a while and a few songs Akira eventually fell asleep again. Yusuke continued to sing for a bit before he fell asleep as well.


	9. Recovery Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As mentioned before this is packed with headcanons and canon divergence stuff. There's some graphic descriptions of violence in this as well as graphic sexual stuff. I could not believe how much I ended up writing. I'm writing this purely for my own satisfaction too so like idek I guess it's selfish to ask for you not to critique it but I'm really not looking for it since I'm just hobbying this aha. Anyway! Enjoy!

In the morning Yusuke woke up to a death grip around his chest. He opened his eyes slowly to see Futaba and Sojiro standing over them.

“Good morning.” He greeted, his voice had a slight rasp to it. He cleared his throat.

“Good mornin’.” Sojiro replied.

“Akira let up! Inari is gonna snap in half at that rate!” Futaba exclaimed. Yusuke just shifted around and looked down at his boyfriend who looked up to meet his gaze. Akira was frowning. He looked a little out of it.

“Good morning.” He said softly. Akira kept frowning then blinked and gently poked under Yusuke’s eye causing him to raise an eyebrow.

“Good morning.” Akira said, he sounded out of it as well.

“It’s a Sunday today but Yusuke you should check in at the school dorms.” Sojiro said. “Futaba can keep an eye on him while you’re gone.”

“I asked Makoto and Ryuji to come by as well!” She chirped. “We’re gonna play games.”

“Okay.” Yusuke said and looked down at Akira who was still looking at him. “Can you give us a minute?”

“Aww but you had him all night!” Futaba argued but Sojiro gently pushed her downstairs giving them some privacy.

“Are you okay?” Yusuke asked.

“I’m dreaming right?” Akira asked in turn once again pressing a few fingers to his face just under his eyes.

“No of course not.” Yusuke replied. Akira hummed sounding like he didn’t believe it then snuggled closer to Yusuke.

“Ah well. It’s nice.” He sighed. “Very nice.”

_“Your boy isn’t quite with it today.”_ Goemon said from the depths of his mind. _“How does the saying go? You should pinch him.”_

“Akira.” Yusuke said and Akira looked up at him smiling. Yusuke pinched a spot under his neck above a bandage and Akira jolted sharply.

“What was that for?!” He exclaimed and huffed.

“I believe the phrase was ‘pinch me I’m dreaming’. I applied that logic.” Yusuke explained. “It hurt?”

“Yes it hurt.” Akira pouted and Yusuke smiled at him.

“Therefore it’s not a dream.” He said.

“Oh.” Akira said softly then started laughing. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” Yusuke said smiling wider. Akira leaned up and gave him a short kiss.

“I missed doing that.” He sighed happily. “You’d think I was gone forever with how much I miss you.”

“You only have to ask and we can do it any time.” Yusuke adored how Akira beamed up at him.

“Okay, let’s kiss for a bit then. Ah no tongue though.” Akira said cheerfully. “Morning breath is not fun.”

“Fair enough.” Yusuke said giving him a peck on the lips. Akira smiled and kissed his cheek, then his forehead.

Akira kept pressing small kisses to Yusuke’s face, then Yusuke took his arm and gently trailed soft kisses up his arm from his hand.

“You’re so romantic.” Akira teased. Yusuke carefully rolled on top of his boyfriend and carefully peppered kisses along his jaw and neck. He reached the bandage where he noticed the bite mark last night.

“Akira what kind of wound is this one?” He asked gently tapping the edge of the bandage.

“Oh.” Akira breathed. “It-”

“You owe me 1000 yen Sojiro! Inari was threatening Akira’s chastity!” Futaba exclaimed and Yusuke jumped turning around quickly. He got tangled in the blanket and ended up falling off the bed with a loud thud. He groaned looking to see that Futaba had run downstairs. He could hear Akira laughing at him from on the bed but he just smiled glad he was at least laughing.

 

Yusuke dragged his feet when he went back to school. He just wanted to be with Akira. But realising his pace would contradict that he picked it up. It took him at least two hours to get things sorted at Kosei and pack some clothes and art supplies for staying over at Akira’s. Now he was heading back to LeBlanc. The train would come in around twenty minutes so he decided to browse the underground mall for a little bit.

“Oh, Yusuke!” He turned to see Ann jogging up to him.

“Ann, hello.” He greeted and went back to looking at the products in front of him. They were fox plushes, while not huge they were big enough to cuddle. Akira did have Morgana to cuddle but if he gave the cat one of those death hugs he did Morgana would surely perish.

“Getting a gift?” Ann asked him with a hum.

“Yes, I can’t pick which one though.” He replied.

The options were a black or a white one.

The black one had white socks, white chest, and a white tipped tail. The red eyes along with it made it look like Akira in the Metaverse, or more Joker. It was adorable and would match Akira well.

The white one was a special edition sort. Along with the regular fox patterns, in bright red, it had two red circles above its black eyes and a thin line of red around the top part of its eyes with red whiskers. It reminded him of his mask in the Metaverse. If he got it for Akira would he be reminded of Yusuke as well? It felt selfish and vain to get something that he hoped would remind Akira of him.

“I think you should get the white one.” Ann piped up, he almost forgot she was there with his musing. “He’ll love it.” She beamed at him.

“It feels vain to get.” He replied.

“He’ll love it because it looks like you.” She said. “Trust me- wait can you even afford it.”

That was another thing, the price of the white one was at least 500 yen more than the black one. He was already wilting at the original prices but he really wanted to get the plush for Akira. He flipped the price tags over in his hands again hoping that they might change by some miracle.

He would be fine not eating for a bit to get Akira such a nice gift.

“Excuse me! Can I get this one?!” Ann hollered at the shop attendant pointing to the white fox plush in his hands.

“Ann what ar-” Before he could argue she snatched it out of his hands and ran to the attendant. He tried to argue with her but Ann paid for the plush and they left the store. She thrust it into his hands with a grin.

“Ann I can’t-”

“You can and you will, you can’t argue with me either. Your train is coming soon.” Ann poked out her tongue and pushed him towards the platform entrance. Sure enough she was right.

“Thank you, I will repay you somehow.” He said before waving and jogging down the steps.

Despite the guilt he couldn’t help but smile. Ann’s bold nature and the way she radiated confidence was what drove him to get out of the car to find her. Although crude his methods were he was glad how things had turned out. He was glad he had such wonderful friends.

 

The train ride was short, or so it felt. Yusuke was busy thinking about Akira. He was bubbling with excitement to give his boyfriend the plush toy. Making his way to LeBlanc he was smiling. He opened the door and Sojiro turned to greet him at the chime of the bell.

“Hello Boss.” He greeted walking towards the stairs to the attic.

“Hey kid.” Sojiro replied. “He’s asleep at the moment. Futaba went back home for a bit.” Yusuke nodded and took the stairs two at a time.

As promised there Akira lay sleeping on his bed. Yusuke pulled up a chair near the bed and put down his gift. He watched Akira for a bit. The slow rise and fall of his chest from breathing was comforting. As much as Akira believed he was dreaming Yusuke felt the same.

_“Yusuke.”_ Goemon’s voice drifted into his thoughts. _“Perhaps we should take him to the Metaverse to heal.”_

_‘The strain and fatigue that comes with traversing the Metaverse might be too much at the moment.’_ Yusuke replied. Though Goemon’s suggestion was a good one. _‘I fear it would only make the wounds worse.’_

_“True. I might suggest it to Arsene if he is up to speaking today.”_ Goemon replied. Yusuke still found it interesting that their personas would talk if they were in the same room with them none the wiser. He wondered if they were all friends because everyone was friends with Akira.

_‘Up to speaking today? I thought Arsene was quite chatty.’_ Yusuke said confused.

_“His charge is wounded physically and mentally and as it goes ‘I am thou, thou art I’.”_ Goemon explained _“He and the other personas have been weakened from this. They will recover with the boy but it will take some natural healing.”_

_‘I see…’_ Yusuke hummed. _‘Even if we took him into the Metaverse for any reason he would not be able to fight.’_

_“Though he most certainly would try.”_ Goemon added. It was true. Akira would fight even if it meant reopening wounds.

_‘That is the one thing I don’t want.’_ Yusuke mumbled.

“Yo Inari.” Futaba said in a hushed whisper and slapped his back. “You’re looking pretty out of it. Didn’t even notice when I came in.”

“Ah, forgive me. I was conversing with Goemon.” He replied.

“Ah.” Futaba said and pulled over the other chair to sit down on it next to him. “I have those with Necronomicon occasionally. It’s interesting.”

They both just looked at Akira as he slept. He turned a little and winced for a second before he relaxed again. Yusuke thought back to the wounds littered across his body, it made his stomach churn.

“I wanna hack in and see the footage.” Futaba confessed, Yusuke turned to look at her. “I know it won’t be nice and I know Akira thinks there’s no point but…I want to find out who did it and change their hearts.”

“For a second I thought you might say kill them.” Yusuke mused. “You are more merciful than me.”

“No…I want to but…that would make me no better than Akechi.” Futaba mumbled. Yusuke sighed, there was truth to her words. Killing the target in the Metaverse would cause them to have a mental shut down.

“True.” He said. “What do you want to do?”

“It’s scary.” Futaba mumbled. “But if we get their faces, oh maybe Sae will recognise them.”

“Who knows how many innocents they’ve done this to?” Yusuke mused. Akira groaned and yawned. “Let’s talk with the group later.” Akira slowly opened his eyes blinking up at them blearily. He went stiff and jumped back a bit. Then he seemed to realise who they were and relaxed.

“Please don’t do that.” He sighed picking up his glasses and putting them on. “I feel like I’m on an examination table.”

“Sorry Akira.” Futaba mumbled.

“Forgive me, it is just reassuring to see you breathing so soundly while you sleep.” Yusuke said and Akira chuckled slowly coming over to sit on the edge of the bed.

“How long was I out?” He asked.

“About two hours.” Futaba replied. “Conked right out. How ya feeling?”

“Alright I guess, a bit sore.” Akira groaned. Yusuke looked at the clock then went to look through the medicine bag Takemi had left.

“How bad is the pain? Doctor Takemi’s notes say you can have another dose of painkillers.” Yusuke told him picking out the bottle.”

“Ah…” Akira breathed then held out his hand. “Yes please.”

“I’ll get some water!” Futaba jumped up and went downstairs. Yusuke sat down on the bed next to Akira.

“Are you in a lot of pain?” He asked, Akira chewed his lip. “You don’t want to say because it’ll worry us right?”

“Something like that…” He mumbled. “I don’t like the haze that came with it last night. I was pretty drugged up from the interrogation and it made me forget everything.”

“Wait, forget?” Yusuke asked as Futaba came back. Akira took the pills and finished off the water. “You forgot everything?”

“Yeah…” Akira trailed off. “It came back pretty slowly.”

“So…if you hadn’t remembered you would have really died…” It was more of a statement than a question. Akira nodded.

“Thank god you did.” Futaba breathed her hands shaking slightly as she gripped the edge of her shirt.

“What’s that?” Akira asked pointing to the bag beside Yusuke. He was changing the topic but it was fine.

“This is for you.” He said passing the bag to his boyfriend. Akira raised an eyebrow and pulled out the fox toy. Immediately his eyes lit up and he smiled happily.

“Oh my god, this is so cute.” He breathed and hugged it to his chest. “It’s like your Metaverse mask! Thank you, I love it.”

“Ooo Inari aren’t you a sap?” Futaba teased snickering.

“Wait how much did this cost? Do you have money for food?” Akira asked quickly. “Please don’t tell me you-”

“Ann bought it for me to give to you.” Yusuke replied with a smile. “She said I could pay her back at a later date.”

“How nice of her.” Akira hummed. “Thank you Yusuke.”

“I suppose it doesn’t really count as my gift since Ann bought it but you’re welcome.” Yusuke smiled at him.

“It does count silly, you picked it out.” Akira laughed. “I really love it, thank you.”

 

Yusuke decided to sketch while he sat with Akira in the attic of LeBlanc. Akira was reading a book. He decided to sit in Yusuke’s lap and he stopped his sketch.

“This makes it a little difficult to sketch Akira.” He said. Akira grinned at him and put down his book putting his arms around Yusuke’s neck. Yusuke smiled and gave a soft chuckle. “If you wanted to cuddle you only had to ask.”

“I felt impulsive.” Akira replied. “Can we kiss?”

“Of course.” Yusuke answered eagerly. Akira smiled and kissed him. Yusuke put his pencil and sketchbook down so he could wrap his arms around Akira’s waist.

They sat there kissing for a bit before it gradually turned to making out. Akira shifted around so he was straddling Yusuke and kept wiggling in his lap. Yusuke broke the kiss and frowned at Akira a light blush on his face. Akira had the gall to look smug even with the red tinting his cheeks.

“If you keep doing that you’re going to get me riled up.” He scolded as if Akira had no idea what he was doing.

“Oo? Really?” His boyfriend sang.

“And the injured should be resting anyway.” A voice said from the stairs. Akira jumped and winced immediately. Yusuke looked over his shoulder to see Akira’s homeroom teacher Kawakami.

“H…Hi Kawakami-sensei.” Akira avoided eye contact with his teacher while Yusuke helped him back onto the sofa properly. “Fancy seeing you here.” Getting a full look at him now the teacher’s gaze went from stern to pained.

“Oh Akira…” She said softly moving closer. “When I saw the news I messaged you and even when you replied when you got out I was still worried. How horrible. I can’t believe they did this to you.”

“It’s fine…” Akira trailed off for lack of anything better to say. Kawakami was getting angry, she seemed devastated.

“It’s not fine.” Yusuke said firmly, Kawakami nodded.

“You’re just a kid, how could they do something like this to you?” She was getting emotional, Yusuke understood well. From what he knew of Kawakami she was very devoted to her students. Seeing Akira like this and knowing there was nothing she could have done to protect her student would hurt.

“Ah I forgot to introduce you.” Akira said clearly changing the subject. “This is Yusuke Kitagawa, Yusuke this is my teacher Kawakami-sensei.”

“A pleasure.” Yusuke said holding his hand out to Kawakami. She shook it with a small smile. They both decided to let him change the subject it seemed.

“So this is the cute art student you kept telling me about?” Kawakami teased and Akira went bright red. “You’re together now?”

“Akira spoke of me to you?” Yusuke asked.

“Oh yeah, all the time.” Kawakami grinned. “You’re a phantom thief as well Kitagawa-kun?”

“Yusuke is fine.” Yusuke said and nodded. “Yes, I was unaware you knew.”

“I realised after Akira helped me with Takase’s guardians.” Kawakami grinned. “Ah, back to why I’m here. I’ve been covering you at school as much as I can. I’ve collected some notes from Mishima on your classes.” She held out a notebook and Akira took it flipping through it. “You’re an ace student so you should do fine.”

“Thank you.” Akira said placing the notebook on his desk.

“Don’t forget to eat and drink.” Kawakami said firmly. “If you need I can come clean for you as well.” Akira just laughed.

“Okay mum.” He replied and Kawakami blushed getting flustered.

“W-what are you talking about?! I’m too young to be a mother!” She spluttered. “You’re too cheeky for your own good.” Akira laughed again and Yusuke smiled. “And you!”

“Me?” Yusuke asked confused when Kawakami pointed to him.

“No hanky panky with the injured!” She scolded. Akira laughed hard holding his stomach and wincing slightly but he kept laughing.

“My boyfriend is too cheeky.” Yusuke sighed. “Getting me into trouble like it wasn’t his fault.”

Kawakami sighed shaking her head but she smiled as she watched Akira laughing.

“I’ll be off now then, take care you two.” She said waving as she went downstairs. They waved back and Akira snickered.

“You’re ridiculous Akira.” He sighed. “How dare you get me in trouble with Kawakami-sensei? You have to make this up to me.”

“Oh? Do you have something in mind?” Akira asked fixing him with a smug smirk.

“Perhaps.” Yusuke smiled back sweetly. “When you’re well I’ll let you make it up to me.” He winked and smirked enjoying how Akira’s face immediately heated up.

“Okay that’s just unfair.” He mumbled. Yusuke just gave him a kiss on the cheek.

 

 

Two days passed and Akira seemed to be getting somewhat better. Some of his cuts and bruises were fading and healing well. He still occasionally woke up in a panic but had stopped screaming when he did so. Yusuke would still sing for him if he was unable to calm down. He even took to softly singing while painting while he and Akira hung out in the attic. Akira would occasionally join him but sometimes Akira would doze off. Doctor Takemi came by a few times to check on his wounds but her clinic was too busy for her to give him a full examination at the time.

During the day Futaba sent the group updates, they had their own group chat without Akira where they discussed possible ideas of what to do. The night before Akira had his check-up with Takemi Futaba sent a message to the chat they had without Akira in it. Yusuke checked it while Akira slept beside him cuddling the fox plush he had given him while Morgana slept near his head.

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Akira has a check-up with Takemi

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** We should meet at Makoto’s place

**Makoto:** Sis is going to be home sometime later

**Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** Are we going to view the interrogation footage?

**Ann:** I feel bad about doing this behind Akira’s back…

**Ryuji:** He’d just tell us not to bother

**Makoto:** We’re just going to check if they’re evil in mementos

**Makoto:** I can’t ignore such a thing. Akira was tortured instead of interrogated. That’s not right.

**Ann:** Yusuke are you sure you should be checking the chat?

**Ann:** Isn’t Akira with you?

Yusuke could have just said he was but he sent a selfie next to his sleeping boyfriend instead making sure not to wake him up.

**Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** That is absolutely adorable!

**Ryuji:** Yusuke’s prolly lookin at that plush like ‘God I wish that were me’

**Yusuke:** Why? I can hug him any time I wish.

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Among with other things hehehe

**Yusuke:** What are you accusing me of?

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** I heard Kawakami caught you two today

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Yusuke you’re such a perv~ (｡・//ε//・｡)

**Ryuji:** Dude…

**Ann:** He’s, like, injured man

**Ann:** I guess he has one more sore spot though ;)

**Yusuke:** Why do you all imply that we were fucking?

**Ryuji:** Holy shit

**Ann:** I don’t think I’ve ever seen you swear!

**Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** :O

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** :O

**Yusuke:** For the record it was just making out

**Yusuke:** He started it

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Real mature Inari

**Makoto:** If we could get back to the topic at hand

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Sorry Mako-Mako

**Makoto:** I advise bringing something to vent frustration. We have no idea what’s on the footage. Yusuke can you bring Morgana.

**Yusuke:** I will pretend that we’re going into Mementos for a critical target if Akira asks.

Akira groaned and jerked sharply turning around a few times.

**Yusuke:** I need to go, Akira is having a nightmare. I will skim the chat tomorrow.

He muted his phone and turned around as Akira turned to his side. His face was contorted in pain and he breathed heavily. He curled in on himself whimpering. Yusuke reached out and gently held him, Akira pushed himself closer shivering. He contemplated waking him up when Akira relaxed and snuggled up to him. Tonight’s terror had been relatively short, he was glad.

 

In the morning Yusuke helped Akira get ready. When Akira went to pick up his bag with Morgana in it Yusuke stopped him.

“I need to take Morgana with me today.” He said. “We’re heading into Mementos, there was a pretty dangerous target.”

“Ah…alright…” Akira mumbled dejectedly and not about Yusuke taking Morgana. He wanted to go with them, that much was obvious.

“I know…I know you want to come but it would be too much for you at this moment.” Yusuke said. He hated how upset it was making Akira. They weren’t even going into Mementos. “I’m sorry…”

“No. I know you’re right.” Akira sighed. “I just feel so useless right now.”

“That’s never the case Akira!” Morgana piped up.

“You know we never think that of you.” Yusuke nodded. Akira smiled but Yusuke knew he didn’t quite believe them.

“As soon as you get a bit better we’ll take you into Mementos to heal some more of your wounds as well!” Morgana said cheerfully. “Don’t rush yourself though. You need to rest.”

“Okay.” Akira said nodding. Yusuke put down Akira’s bag and cupped his boyfriend’s face. “Be careful please.”

“I will, I want to return to you.” He said. “Every hour away from you is agonising, school should be cancelled.” He tried to lay it on like Akira did but it was awkward. Nonetheless Akira laughed softly.

“You’re a dork.” He said smiling. “Tell me how it goes.”

“Tell me how your appointment goes. I will message when I’m returning home.” Yusuke replied smiling at Akira. Akira blinked a few times and started blushing. “What’s wrong?”

“That…you make it sound like we’re married or something…” He mumbled shyly.

“That would be wonderful.” Yusuke chuckled. “I’m off dear.” He gave Akira a kiss.

“You’re such a dork.” Akira mumbled trying to hide the massive grin on his face. “Safe travels.”

Yusuke picked up Akira’s bag and left LeBlanc. When they got to the train station Morgana popped his head out and looked up at him.

“So what are we really doing today?” He asked.

“Perceptive as always Morgana.” Yusuke chuckled. “We’re going to Makoto’s to look over the security footage.”

“Of the interrogation? Why?” Morgana asked.

“To find out who they are and change their hearts if they’re evil.” Yusuke said. Morgana hummed. They got on the train and headed to Makoto’s place.

The mood was…tense. Futaba was setting up her laptop while Makoto got them each a drink. Everyone was quiet. Yusuke noticed Haru had brought what looked like a stress ball and was squeezing it gently in her hand. Ann was hugging a pillow, actually Ryuji had a pillow in his lap as well.

“There we go.” Futaba said solemnly. “I don’t think we’ll all be able to see…I have to connect it to your TV.” Makoto nodded and helped her. A few moments later the display showed up showing Akira handcuffed sitting at a table. There was a red mark on his cheek from the arrest. Yusuke sat down and Makoto handed him a pillow. Futaba clicked play.

_“Hard to imagine the leader of the infamous Phantom Thieves is a kid.”_ One of the interrogators said. Akira just looked at them, defiance clear in his gaze. _“I don’t like that look you’re giving me kid.”_

_“Akira Kurusu, you’re already on probation for assault.”_ The second interrogator said.

_“Quite the rebel aren’t you?”_ The first one asked with a laugh. Akira said nothing just looking at them. _“We can do this the easy way or the hard way kid. So spill it. Who was with you? Who were you targeting next? How did you do it?”_

They were still met with silence.

_“We’re not bad people.”_ The second one said. _“If you tell us, we can help lighten your sentence. Come on kid. You got a future ahead of you to think about.”_

Still Akira refused to say anything.

_“Still nothing?”_ The first asked then sighed putting his hands on his hips. _“Look kid here’s how it’s gonna go. You tell us what we need to know or we beat the shit out of you.”_

_“Ka-”_

_“What’ll it be kid?”_ He asked interrupting the other. Akira kept silent. _“There we have our answer.”_ The second interrogator left the room while the first put a briefcase on the table then pulled the table away from Akira. He opened it up and turned it around for Akira to see. There were needles and a few knives in it as well as what looked like a baton. Akira’s eyebrows twitched but he glared at the interrogator.

_“Oh kid we gave you a chance. Now I get to see how long it takes for you to break.”_ He said and punched Akira in the face. Akira grunted and the interrogator came around punching him in the gut winding him. Akira coughed and spluttered for a bit. The interrogator raised the baton and brought it down on his shoulder.

Futaba paused it immediately the screen getting caught on the man’s grin after hitting Akira. She took a pillow and put it to her chest holding it tight her fingers digging into the case.

“That man…seems to be enjoying it.” Makoto commented. “Skip through some of it if need be. You don’t need to watch if you can’t-”

“No. No I don’t want to…” Futaba mumbled. “I need to see the truth with my own eyes.”

 They all knew it was going to get worse. They had seen how bruised Akira had come back. Futaba skipped through a bit before pressing play.

 

The interrogator had left the room. Akira was squirming uncomfortably in his seat breathing heavily with a needle sticking out from his neck. He jerked sharply, eyes unfocused and cloudy as he fell bringing the chair down with him. He screamed out in pain and it took him a while to force himself into another position managing to wiggle off the chair since he wasn’t tied down to it. Glass shards dropped when he lifted his head from the ground and he hissed in pain. It took a bit but he was able to sit up but he swayed and fell sideways propped up by the chair. Blood was splattered across his neck, the tip of the needle had fallen out but he had smashed the needle in his fall. His chest rose and fell with each staggering deep breath. The interrogator walked back in after ten minutes.

_“Jeez you did a number on yourself.”_ He laughed walking around and roughly dragging Akira to his feet. He picked up the chair and shoved Akira back into it. Akira let out a small noise of pain. _“How’s that treating you? Feel like talking yet?”_

_“I…”_ Akira rasped. _“Fuck you.”_

_“Kid you’re not doing yourself any favours here.”_ The interrogator sighed. _“I guess as usual brats like you need to learn the hard way.”_

_“You torture… a lot of kids then huh?”_ Akira said dazed. _“Wonder how you got married.”_ The interrogator laughed.

_“Oh are you playing detective now?”_ He asked holding up his hand with his wedding ring on it. _“Trying to rile me up? Seriously are you an idiot?”_

_“Maybe divorced…what woman would stand someone like you?”_ Akira laughed breathlessly. _“At work after parties…do you boast? I beat up a defenceless kid…drugged him…”_

_“Seriously kid the only thing I want to hear from you is information.”_ The interrogator said gruffly. He was getting irritated. Akira wasn’t letting up in his drugged state.

_“Truth…that’s right. That’s what you want Mr. Interrogator.”_ He said slowly. _“You probably get off…on this kind of shit. Mm yeah baby tonight lemme tell you about how I bashed the fuck outta this kid it gets me so-hrk!”_  The interrogator silently grabbed a fistful of Akira’s hair then slammed his face down on the table. Akira groaned as he raised his head blood dripping down from his nose and lip. He smirked up at the interrogator with glass eyes. The interrogator wailed on him. It took ages for the other guards to come in and rip the interrogator away from Akira who was once again on the floor wheezing. The second detective from earlier came in and squatted near Akira.

_“You’re going to die if you keep this up.”_ He sighed. _“Look kid if you tell us what we need to know this will be all over.”_

_“No it wont.”_ Akira rasped. _“Don’t come in here pretending to be a saviour…Even if you stopped him he’s going to keep doing it until I give you what you want.”_

_“You could just tell us.”_ He said.

_“You act like that’ll save me. It won’t. Don’t pretend you’re doing me any favours.”_ Akira took a shaky breath and stared down the interrogator. _“Even if you think you’re doing good by stopping him you’re going to let him continue.”_

The second man left the room and Akira slumped against the floor trying to breathe properly. He rolled onto his side wincing and curled in on himself. A while later he passed out.

 

They skipped through more footage but as expected nobody said any names. Akira was beaten, cut, and drugged multiple times while being humiliated by being allowed to relieve himself in a bucket in the corner with guards standing around him. The first man who kept beating Akira was the only one who would hit him. They cycled through three other men as well but Akira didn’t give them information. So they let the first man come back and beat him up. Two days later in the footage Akira was slumped against a seat, bruised, bloodied, and honestly looking lifeless. If not for his body moving as he breathed they would have thought he was dead. His eyes were glassy, they had just continued to drug him so he was constantly out of it. The interrogator walked in again.

_“Shit kid you have some resilience I’ll give you that.”_ He said. Akira barely acknowledged him as he sat down across from him. He put a picture onto the table. _“Look at this.”_ Akira’s eyes rolled slowly down to look at the picture of one of the interrogators that had been there the other day. _“Did you cause him to have a mental shutdown?”_

_“…no.”_ Akira said softly and went back to looking into the corner of the room mouth slightly open.

_“Cut the shit, you Phantom Thieves did that to Okumura.”_ He growled. _“Did you kill him?”_

_“No.”_ Akira repeated.

_“He was killed the day after he saw you.”_ The interrogator said. _“You don’t think that’s suspicious?”_ Akira was eerily quiet, he was incredibly out of it. The man got up and pulled him up by the collar of his blazer. Akira blinked his head lolling to the side. He was shoved to the floor and the man went back to grab a baton. Unlike the other times Akira was visibly distressed this time. He scrambled back into a wall whimpering.

The man kept telling Akira to tell him what happened and who killed him if he didn’t. He was under the assumption that Akira’s team had done it. Akira cried out in pain shaking and begging for him to stop with each hit. In the end the man left again after being called out by someone and Akira was left trembling on the floor.

_“I…can’t…”_ He whimpered. _“I can’t…do this…”_ He pulled his knees up to his chest resting his head on the floor. _“Yu…Yusuke I’m…”_ Akira trailed off and then started to cry until he passed out.

Yusuke stared at the screen. They had practically done it. They broke him. Akira was strong but there was only so much a person could take. He felt sick. Akira saying his name like that- it was too much. He couldn’t do anything for him. He was stuck like that until Sae Niijima came for him. His throat was tight, he felt like he wanted to vomit.

Everyone jumped at the sound of something hitting the ground loudly. They turned to see Haru had thrown a broken stress ball into a bag she had placed on the floor.

“Ah…sorry for startling you.” She said softly.  “Yusuke-”

“I can’t…” Yusuke said his voice strangled. “He called out for me…….Let’s continue.”

“If you need a moment-”

“No. I’m fine.” Yusuke lied.

_“You’ll make yourself sick.”_ Goemon scolded in his head. Haru looked at him then looked to Makoto.

“Mako-chan I think I need a break.” She said. “Let’s pause for a while.”

“Okay.” Makoto said. Futaba paused the video and brought up a video in another browser with puppies playing in a field. Makoto went to get them some more drinks.

“It’s hard.” Ann mumbled. “This is so hard to watch. It’s…”

“Akira’s always so strong man…” Ryuji added. “Even when he transferred and everyone knew he was a delinquent it didn’t seem to faze him.”

“I think it did, but he just kept to himself.” Ann said nodding.

“When he first transferred what was it like?” Yusuke found himself asking. “How did you meet?”

“The day he transferred was the first day we went into a palace.” Ryuji said. “I don’t even know how we got there but we ended up getting thrown into a dungeon and met Kamoshida’s Shadow.”

“That was when you two hadn’t awakened right?” Morgana asked. “How did that go?”

“He ended up beating me up.” Ryuji sighed. “Akira tried to help though, but it ended up with both of us just stuck. I was scared as shit. Kamoshida was gonna kill me. It’s almost embarrassing to remember.”

“How did you get out of it?” Haru asked.

“Well, Akira started yelling in pain as it goes.” Ryuji told them. “He called out to Kamoshida and it drew all of their attention to him. It was like an effin rush of power radiating from him man. When I looked back he had a mask on then the dude just straight rips it off not even stopping with the blood streaming down his face.”

“Hardcore.” Futaba commented.

“Yeah! Arsene’s laughter filled the room as he was like engulfed in blue flames and shit. Then he just knocks those assholes back like it was nothin’!” Ryuji exclaimed. “At first I thought he was gonna kill me too smirking like that an’ all. He just kept protectin me though as he fought shadows.”

“It sounds breathtaking.” Yusuke sighed, he had always wondered what Akira’s awakening had been like.

“But man…” Ryuji mumbled. “Those shadows did a number on him first but didn’t break him like this asshole. He has to be a monster.”

“All the more reason to find out who he is.” Yusuke said with a nod. “Shall we continue?” They sat back and Futaba swapped the videos over skipping forward.

 

Three people were in the room. The man who had been beating Akira was looking at his passed out form on the chair.

_“Wake him up.”_ He said. Someone threw a bucket of water onto him and he jolted awake. _“No time for dozing off brat.”_ Akira looked around the room slowly in a daze and violently fought against his handcuffs. _“God you still don’t get it do you?”_ He kicked Akira in the stomach hard and Akira fell to the ground with a groan of pain and a cough. This time the chair broke under him.

He breathed slowly and the man came up and put his foot on the side of Akira’s head stepping down hard.

_“Seriously kid, cooperate or do you want more shots?”_ He said. Akira looked towards the camera dazed and confused. _“What? You think it can be used for video evidence?”_ Akira was silent and it earned him another kick to the stomach. He choked as the man walked away grabbing a clipboard to read out his crimes.

_“You should know your place.”_ He nodded towards the other two who walked over and uncuffed him then threw him back roughly. Akira struggled to sit as the man came over with the clipboard. _“Sign here, it’s a confession under your name.”_ Akira smacked the clipboard back defiantly. The man rolled his eyes and stood up.

_“I only need your hands to sign this kid.”_ He slammed his foot down on Akira’s thigh and Akira screamed out in pain. _“I don’t mind if you lose a leg. Either way you’re not getting out of here in one piece.”_ He pressed down harder then stood off him and handed Akira the clipboard and a pen. Akira signed it and handed it back. They walked out and Akira fumbled to stand up. He grabbed the chair from the other side of the room and fell back into it breathing heavily. He looked around the room confused trying to make sense of where he was. The door opened again and this time Sae walked in.

_“Oh…who would have guessed it would be you.”_ She said. Someone came in and put a chair down for her before leaving. “ _We don’t have much time-…”_ She trailed off looking around the room at the broken chair and needles. _“Bastards…Hey can you hear me?”_

_“I…”_ Akira breathed. _“Yes…Where am I?”_

_“It seems…you’re coherent.”_ Sae replied with a sigh of relief. She pulled out a folder to begin her interrogation and Futaba started skipping through the footage up until Sae was about to leave. They saw him talk about the phone.

“In the end he remembered.” Futaba sighed.

“That was frightening.” Haru breathed. “To think that man could be doing that to other innocents.”

“We’ll have to see if sis knows his name.” Makoto added.

“What an effing shit.” Ryuji seethed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a palace.”

“The justice system is so messed.” Ann mumbled. “It-”

“Wait stop talking, it’s Akechi.” Yusuke interrupted. They all looked at the TV to see Akechi killing a guard.

_“Thanks.”_ He said. _“Everything you and your friends did helped our plan considerably, I truly am grateful.”_ Akechi turned to him. _“We can use that popularity of yours as well for our favour. It’s truly amazing.”_

Akira just stared at him silently.

_“Did you piece it all together now at least?”_ He asked smiling slightly. _“This is how the case closes and your justice ends.”_

He pressed the gun to his forehead and Akira stared up at him wide eyed as Akechi grinned.

_“Wait.”_ Akira rasped. _“I…please let me know one thing before you do it.”_

Akechi looked at him, finger on the trigger but not pulling it.

_“Alright.”_ Akechi laughed. _“I’ll humour you, go ahead.”_ He kept pointing the gun at him but moved it away from Akira’s forehead.

_“You could have let me die in Mementos.”_ Akira started his voice scratchy. _“But you saved me, no one else noticed but I did. Why? My death there could have thrown the rest of the team into chaos.”_

“Wait hold on, Akechi saved Akira in Mementos?” Ann asked.

“I…I think it was that time he almost died. I remember my readings were a little funny but I was preoccupied with trying to help.” Futaba said scratching her head.

_“It didn’t fit our plan.”_ Akechi laughed. _“Did you think it might be more than that? That I might like you and your friends?”_

_“You’re smart. You could have dragged my body out of Mementos and claimed that I was dangerous and you had no choice but to shoot.”_ Akira replied. _“You could have earned more points with the media that way by killing a killer in self-defence. But you didn’t. You didn’t even mention it to the team to earn our trust further to make your betrayal easier so wh-”_ Akechi grabbed Akira by the throat and he let out a strangled cry. Yusuke bit back a growl.

_“Shut up.”_ He growled. _“Like I need you or your shitty friends for anything.”_

_“You’re lonely.”_ Akira rasped. _“You’re lonely and suffering.”_

_“You don’t know me.”_ Akechi scoffed.

_“I…can see…. you though.”_ Akira replied. Akechi let go of him and he wheezed and coughed for a bit. _“It’s not too late. You could join us still. I meant it when I said you would be an invaluable member to us. As a teammate and a friend.”_ Akechi said nothing, then he just laughed.

_“You are so interesting.”_ He said. _“I was right to get involved. Now… is that all?”_

_“I…yes.”_ Akira bowed his head solemnly.

_“Then, allow me to indulge in something I’ve wanted to do.”_ Akechi reached forward and grabbed a fist full of his hair then yanked his head back and kissed him.

“What the fuck?!” Ryuji exclaimed. Yusuke actually snarled.

It wasn’t a short kiss either. Akechi was making out with Akira, he pulled his hair back and then after a few moments Akechi pulled back then bit into his neck hard and Akira whimpered in pain. Akechi pulled back completely and licked his lips.

_“It’s been a pleasure leader.”_ He said smiling again as he pressed the barrel to Akira’s forehead. _“Goodbye.”_

Blood pooled down his face and his body fell forward to collapse on the desk. Akechi poked the corpse a few times with the end of the silencer before smiling and taking off the silencer, placing it into his blazer pocket before putting the gun in Akira’s hand. He looked at his handiwork one more time before leaving the room.

 

“What the-”

“I’ll kill him.” Yusuke growled. “I’m going to kill him I –”

“Calm down Yusuke!” Makoto exclaimed firmly. Yusuke glared at her but he slumped back in his seat seething.

“I mean I knew Akechi always had a thing for Akira but whoa.” Ann said.

“Moving on, we need to find this man.” Haru said. “If not for our own satisfaction.” Makoto checked her phone.

“Ah, sis won’t be coming tonight. Futaba can you send me screenshots of the man. I’ll try and do my own search until she comes.” Makoto said.

“Of course.” Futaba replied.

“I think we should head home for today.” Morgana said. “Think on the issue a bit further.”

“Agreed.” Haru said with a small nod. Looking at her now she had broken three stress balls. She must have packed more with her. They said their goodbyes and headed to the station. Futaba was travelling along with Yusuke.

Yusuke was still pissed. Futaba chewed on her lip standing next to him on the train. She had no idea what to do so she held onto his arm as she would with Akira.

“Inari it’ll be okay.” She said. “They’ll pay for their crimes.”  He said nothing but he was glad Futaba was there with him. They went to LeBlanc and went upstairs. Akira was having a nap. Morgana popped out of the bag and hopped over to curl up near Akira. Yusuke wordlessly sat down on the sofa and pulled out his supplies to start sketching. Futaba sat next to him but only to play on Akira’s console, with the volume muted of course.

 

An hour passed and Futaba went home to try and help with researching who the torturer was, Morgana tagged along with her to help. Yusuke had drawn Akira multiple times. Akira sleeping while lying on his side plush fox clutched tightly to his chest, Akira holding Morgana leaning against the window of his room near his bed, Akira looking towards him with a disembodied hand gently cupping his blushing cheek.

He heart a soft groan and looked over to see Akira sitting up. According to his message Takemi said his healing was going well but it would still take a bit.

“Hello.” Yusuke said then remembered their conversation from earlier “Darling I’m home.” Akira snorted and started laughing.

“Welcome back dear.” He replied. He went downstairs to the toilet and came back up then sat on his bed. Yusuke moved to join him leaving his sketchbook on the desk.

“How was your rest?” He asked.

“Ah alright, how was Mementos?” Akira asked in turn. Yusuke almost asked what he was talking about but then remembered that was their cover story. He sighed and leaned his head on Akira’s shoulder.

“Tiring. We got the target though.” He replied. Akira wrapped an arm around his waist.

“Good work.” He said. “Soon I should be able to go to Mementos to heal my wounds.”

“I’m glad you’re at least resting now.” Yusuke told him. Akira hummed and Yusuke sat up again, he saw the patch over where Akechi had bitten Akira and seethed.

“Where did you get this one?” He asked feigning ignorance. “When I saw it the other day it looked odd.”

“Oh…” Akira trailed off. “Akechi bit me.”

“How did that happen?” He asked. Akira looked up at the ceiling.

“He sort of…kissed me before he went to kill me and just bit me during it.” He said. “I’m…I’m sorry Yusuke.”

“There was nothing you could do was there?” Yusuke asked and Akira nodded. “It’s fine, although a little infuriating.”

“I mean yeah Akechi got that kiss but you know what he didn’t get?” Akira asked, he seemed a bit flustered. Akira climbed into his lap and straddled him. “This.”

“Oh.” Yusuke blinked at his boyfriend. Everything else left his mind as he focused on Akira. He felt something poking him slightly. “Are you hard?”

“I uh…” Akira trailed off and covered his mouth with a hand. “I had a pretty…raunchy dream.”

“Uh huh…and you want to…?” Yusuke trailed off. Akira nodded. “Is your body alright for it?”

“Nothing to strenuous.” Akira said. “I mean I tried taking care of it in the toilet but…”

“What did you dream about?” Yusuke asked. “And would you like us to do as we did last time?”

“I kind of uh…” Akira trailed off his face red. “I want to try…sucking you off.” He peeked back at Yusuke and Yusuke wondered if Akira had any idea what he did to him. He had to know of course. How could he not realise how enticing he was?

“Then what would you like me to do to you?” Yusuke asked low not missing the way Akira shivered.

“I…can you hold my head while I do it?” Akira asked. “Run your fingers through it, guide me to suck your…” Akira swallowed eyes clouded and licked his lips. Yusuke swallowed then nodded.

“I’m leaving for tonight, rest up you two!” Sojiro called up the stairs startling them.

“You as well.” Yusuke called back. They waited and heard Sojiro leave the café.

Yusuke shifted so they were lying on the bed and Akira kissed him. As he did that he undid the buttons of Yusuke’s shirt and cupped the front of his pants giving a small hum into their kiss. They pulled back and Akira trailed kisses down his exposed neck and chest. Yusuke stole Akira’s hand giving it a kiss before licking between his fingers enjoying that Akira shivered at the lewd gesture.

Akira continued trailing down turning to nibbling as well as kissing the exposed skin. He started to undo Yusuke’s pants and pushed them down. Yusuke reached forward and ran his fingers gently through Akira’s hair. His boyfriend slowly pulled down his pants and stroked him a few times until he was fully erect.

“I’m going to start okay?” He said holding the base of Yusuke’s cock. “Let me know if it’s too much.”

“The…The same to you.” Yusuke stammered.

Akira opened his mouth and ran his tongue along the shaft, Yusuke sucked in a breath. Akira did it again curling his tongue around the tip then put it in his mouth and Yusuke jolted squeezing his eyes shut. It was so warm and foreign but it felt _good._ Akira stroked the bottom half of his dick and bobbed his head taking the top half. He reached for Yusuke’s hands and guided them to his hair. Yusuke resisted the urge to buck up into his mouth and settled for gripping tightly into Akira’s hair. He let out a sharp noise startling Yusuke and he opened his eyes looking down with worry at his boyfriend.

“Sorry I…” He trailed off. Akira was looking up at him, his eyes were hooded and he had his lips wrapped around Yusuke’s cock. Akira really liked the hair pulling from him. Yusuke didn’t think he could get more aroused. He ran his fingers through Akira’s hair earning a pleased hum which made his hips twitch. It felt like Akira smiled as he returned to bobbing his head.

Yusuke tried to be gentle but he ended up raking a hand through Akira’s hair, his fingers scraping the scalp roughly. He stuttered out an apology and pulled his hands away but Akira moaned around his dick and placed his hands on Yusuke’s hips. He took his cock into his mouth further slowly then pulled off with a wet pop. Yusuke whined at the loss.

“Yusuke nod my head please.” Akira said his voice raspy and didn’t wait before swallowing him down halfway. Yusuke’s hands shook but he slid his hands to the side of Akira’s head and slowly guided his head up and down.

The sound of his soft moans along with the slick sound of Akira, for lack of a better word, slobbering on his cock seemed to just echo around the room. Honestly it was getting louder as Yusuke couldn’t stop himself from making Akira go faster but his boyfriend didn’t seem to mind. He could feel his body winding up for a release.

“Akira…” he moaned. “Akira it feels so good…”

Akira pulled back again with a moan and licked up and down his dick repeatedly but it wasn’t enough. He pulled Akira’s head back so he could push past his lips. This time he actually bucked his hips half aware he was saying something but no clue what. Everything was getting fuzzy. He was so close, he guided Akira’s head again at a stuttering fast pace but let go hands gripping the sheets tightly as he got closer. Just a little more...

Akira gripped his hips hard and slowly pressed further. Yusuke’s eyes shot open and he looked down seeing Akira’s nosed pressed to his stomach breathing through his nose. Akira looked up curving his tongue slightly around the shaft in his mouth. Yusuke moaned the jerk of his hips only kept short from Akira holding him down as he came in his boyfriend’s mouth. Akira pulled off and Yusuke panted before quickly sitting up. Akira had a little bit of cum dribbling out of the side of his mouth but he swallowed it making Yusuke shudder.

“You…” He rasped. “You…you…I…”

“That good?” Akira teased a light blush to his cheeks. He licked off the cum he missed. “I was a little worried it was too much for a second.”

“It was incredible.” Yusuke said softly. Akira started to get up.

“I’m glad, here let’s get cleaned up a-”

“You’ve yet to cum.” Yusuke interrupted gently pulling him back down and pulling off his shirt. He kissed Akira softly and pressed kisses to the side of his face as they wriggled off his pants. “While I may not be able to do something as amazing as you just did for me I hope my hand will suffice?”

“I love your hands.” Akira said pressing a kiss to the back of one. Yusuke smiled and shifted so Akira was lying on his back while he stayed close to his side. Akira gasped sharply when Yusuke took his shaft in his hand. He bit his bottom lip gently and watched Yusuke’s hands slide up and down slowly.

Yusuke could feel the little shakes of Akira’s thighs as he went faster. He reached around to slide his free hand along Akira’s chest to rest at his hip giving it a small squeeze. Akira jolted when Yusuke closed his hand a little tighter and pushed his head into the crook of Yusuke’s neck moaning.

“Is it good?” He asked.

“Yeah yeah yeah.” Akira moaned and twisted then he came. It was a bit sooner than Yusuke expected. “Fuck, I guess I bet a record there. To be fair I was touching myself while sucking you off.”

“I didn’t see that, I wish I had. That would have been amazing.” Yusuke moped and Akira laughed.

“There’s always another time.” He smiled. “ _Now_ let’s get cleaned up.”

 

Yusuke packed up his things for the day eager to return to LeBlanc to see Akira. He was almost out the school gates when he was stopped.

“Excuse me…Kitagawa-kun.” He turned to face the girl. She looked vaguely familiar, long dark hair with a red ribbon in it and while he knew it was rude he clicked his tongue displeased.

“Yes? I am quite busy.” He said curtly. The girl looked around and motioned for him to follow. He followed, though it occurred to him later he could have just left, and she led him to an empty clearing on campus. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Ah, I apologise Kitagawa-kun. I am Hifumi Togo.” She introduced and gave a short bow of her head. Right she was the shoji player who would play at the church. He almost forgot she and Akira were friends.

“Is there something you need Togo-san?” Yusuke asked.

“I was wondering how Akira-kun was going…after the news report I became concerned.” She said frowning. “I have been texting him but then I recalled seeing the two of you together.”

“Ah, yes he is well.” It wasn’t an entire lie. Akira was still pretty bruised and sore. “I will pass on your regards, I am going to see him now.”

“Oh, sorry for keeping you.” Hifumi said and bowed. “Please take care, I can only imagine how much more dangerous this will get.”

“Thank you, farewell.” Yusuke nodded his head and left.

As he walked back to the station he thought about all the bonds Akira shared with people. He worked hard and earnestly to get to know them, even his homeroom teacher who had previously thought he was a pain. The man from the model gun shop, the politician always making speeches at the station, the fortune teller in Shinjuku. There were so many people, then there were the people he knew from his jobs and from his school. For someone the world snubbed off he had so many friends.

Yusuke walked into LeBlanc and saw a woman he swore he recognised sitting at the bar talking to Sojiro. He greeted them politely and went upstairs to see Akira. Who had Futaba and a young boy both sitting beside him holding onto one of his arms each and were bickering. Yusuke knew the boy from somewhere too, ah wait. The red ‘Get Smoked’ cap. This was the ‘King’.

“Good afternoon.” He said and Akira turned to him smiling.

“Hey Yusuke.” He greeted warmly. Futaba sighed.

“Of course we can’t beat Inari.” She said.

“I can still beat you.” The kid huffed. What was his name? Akira slipped out of their grasp to come over to him. They were too immersed in their bickering to follow.

“How was school?” He asked.

“It was alright, I was eager to come back to see you.” He whispered the last part and Akira’s lips wobbled as he tried not to smile too much. It was cute. “Hifumi Togo wishes you a speedy recovery.”

“Ah, I’ll send her a thank you text.” He said. “I forget you two go to the same school. Your uniform looks so different.”

“I do have the other uniform. But it’s only required for assembly and events like that.” Yusuke replied. I avoid wearing it, if it got damaged by paint it would cost a fortune to get a replacement.” Akira nodded slowly and looked thoughtful. “You want to see me in it.”

“Ah…maybe.” Akira replied rubbing the back of his neck. He moved away to go back towards the King “Shinya this is my friend Yusuke, he goes to Kosei. Yusuke this is Shinya, he’s well known as King since he’s a genius at gaming.”

“A pleasure to meet you.” Yusuke said nodding.

“Nice to meet you.” Shinya said though he stuck close to Akira looking him over.

“I see the King and Futaba have become acquainted.” Yusuke said watching them both latch onto one of Akira’s arms again.

“We’re having a war.” Shinya said with a firm nod.

“Yes! I’m winning.” Futaba laughed smugly.

“I…see…” Yusuke trailed off looking at Akira confused.

“They’re in a competition to see who my best sibling is.” Akira clarified. “Though I adore them both.” The statement had the two younger ones blushing slightly along with the pat on the head he gave them.

“Unfair Akira…you’re too cool…” Shinya mumbled.

“I know right? Coolest Key Item.” Futaba mumbled.

“Aren’t you two just the cutest?” Akira wrapped an arm around each of them giving them a one armed hug with a huge smile on his face.

“I agree, you’re very cool Akira.” Yusuke hummed smiling softly.

“A-ah…” Akira stuttered rubbing the back of his neck. “To be honest I think you’re pretty cool too…”

“Ah, so was that woman downstairs Shinya’s mother?” Yusuke asked realising now that he remembered her. They had changed her heart in the Metaverse. “The one we he-” Futaba kicked his shin and he groaned in pain.

“It’s okay, he knows we’re Phantom Thieves.” Akira laughed. Immediately Shinya’s eyes lit up.

“Yusuke and Futaba are as well! I didn’t know I would meet more today!” He said excitedly. “This is so cool.”

“He’s a big fan of ours.” Akira said smiling proudly.

“Thank you for helping out with my mum.” Shinya said smiling.

“Have things been better since the change of heart?” Yusuke asked to which Shinya nodded. “We’re glad to be of service.”

“I can’t believe you’re a Phantom Thief though Futaba.” Shinya said frowning at Futaba.

“Better believe it kid!” Futaba laughed with her hands on her hips. They started to argue and so Akira moved to stand next to Yusuke.

“I don’t have any siblings.” He said softly. “I like that they think of me as an older brother.”

“You are an amazing person, as if people wouldn’t be charmed.” Yusuke told him. He was struck with inspiration.

The way they were relaxed before gave him an idea for a painting. In the same light as the Saiyuri perhaps he could paint Akira’s new family. Akira seated with Futaba and Shinya. Maybe downstairs in LeBlanc. Morgana would have to be in the picture as well, with Sojiro of course. Natural poses as well, maybe the lighting of the mid-afternoon when the sun starts to set. Perhaps he could paint himself in there as well, they were lovers…but would Akira mind having him in their makeshift family?

Yusuke blinked feeling fingers poking between his eyebrows. Akira was looking at him with a light frown.

“Are you alright? You went off into your own little world and started frowning.” He asked.

“Akira, would you let me be a part of your family?” He asked. Before he went to paint the picture he would have to ask. He seemed to catch Akira completely off guard.

“What?!” He exclaimed and spluttered surprised.

“Is that a no?” Yusuke sighed sadly.

“What’s with you and proposing to me this week?” Akira was getting redder by the second. “I-I mean…I…wouldn’t object to the idea…if that’s what you want…”

“Your new family is a delight and I would love to join it, I wasn’t sure if it would be selfish or not.” Yusuke said and Akira looked at him sadly.

“Oh Yusuke, of course you can be a part of my new family.” He said gently. Yusuke smiled at him.

“As for marriage-” He couldn’t help but stop talking to start laughing when Akira squawked.

“Hey, Akira are you and Yusuke just friends?” Shinya asked. Akira stopped and didn’t turn to face the two but Yusuke could see the panic on his face.

Ah.

This was his fault. He had forgotten to give thought to their surroundings. Akira’s birth family had cast him out when they discovered he was gay and while he was sure his new family wouldn’t the anxiety was still there.

He was such an idiot. The main reason Akira kept himself from asking him out in the first place was because of what other people thought.

“Shinya…” Akira trailed off his voice fading off. He had no idea what to say. From the look on Futaba’s face she had no idea either.

“Shinya does this bother you?” Yusuke asked walking over to the boy. “Hypothetically speaking, if Akira and I were in a relationship would it bother you?”

“Would it bother me?” Shinya asked frowning slightly. “If you two were a couple?”

“Yes.” Yusuke replied. “It is something frowned upon by society.”

“Y-Yusuke pl-”

“Of course not.” Shinya said. “People say it’s wrong yeah? Like how they say it’s wrong for my mum to raise me on her own. Those people are stupid.”

“You understand what it means right?” Yusuke asked. “Homosexuality.”

“Yeah. It’s been a topic at our school sometimes. I ignored them because they were idiots.” Shinya nodded with what he was saying. “Mum was talking about it one time as well when it came on the news. ‘Being happy is more important’ was what she said. I agree.”

“You’re a smart kid.” Futaba praised poking him in the side a few times. Akira walked over and dropped down to hug Shinya.

“A-Akira?” He said startled.

“Thanks Shinya.” Akira laughed. “Thank you.”

“You can be a big baby sometimes.” Shinya huffed but he smiled a little then glared at Yusuke. “You treat him right!”

“Of course.” Yusuke chuckled. “Akira I’m sorry.” Akira stood up looking confused. “I had been thinking of a piece I wanted to draw and was so inspired I asked questions without regards to my surroundings.”

“Inari here gets absolutely motivated when he has a painting idea.” Futaba pointed out. “Like when you’re playing a game you’re good at, ignore all surroundings and focus!”

“Why do you call him Inari?” Shinya asked. “I’ve been wondering…oh! Is it his code name?!”

“Nope, I just tease him with it.” Futaba snickered and Yusuke frowned at her.

“We each do have a codename though.” Akira chuckled.

“Really?!” Shinya asked excitedly. “That’s so cool. Akira you are seriously the coolest!”

It seemed like he was about to ask what they were when Shinya’s mother came upstairs telling them it was time to go. Shinya looked dejected but grinned and said his goodbyes before he went back with his mother happily. Yusuke felt a twist in his gut along with envy. Perhaps he would have been like that with his mother.

“Hey Akira, were you and your mum like that?” Futaba asked sitting up on the couch.

“No.” Akira said and stood up stretching carefully. He didn’t say more, they didn’t pry. Yusuke was glad they didn’t talk about it, he didn’t remember much of his mother.

“Now that Inari’s here, I’m gonna catch that new anime.” Futaba announced. “See ya squares.” She gave them a peace sign before jogging downstairs.

“How’s the pain today?” Yusuke asked.

“It’s a little better.” Akira answered. “We really need to plan what to do about Akechi.”

“I…I know.” Yusuke mumbled. Ideally he wanted Akira to rest for a few more days so they could go after the torturer. It wouldn’t be too long until they could go into Mementos to heal his wounds, they would have to deal with the man before then. “How is sleeping going?”

“It’s good and bad I guess.” Akira mumbled. “I think I’ll always have the dreams. Trauma and all. But they’re less…well it’s not less scary but I guess it depends on how I feel on the day? I’m sorry I can’t explain it.”

“It’s fine, I just wish you didn’t have to have such dreams.” Yusuke replied opening his arms up. Akira stepped forward and hugged him sighing softly into his chest.

“The most disturbing is when I dream of Akechi.” He confessed and Yusuke stiffened up. “I get the feeling that he could be saved but in the end can I do it?”

“You still wish to save him?” Yusuke asked and Akira nodded.

“We’ve spoken outside of speaking with the group.” He said. “There’s more under the surface…if I just convince him to…” Akira shook his head and sighed again. “I need to think on it more.”

“I…yes.” Yusuke found himself saying. What could he say to it? Personally he felt like Akechi shouldn’t be allowed redemption. But that was unfair of him to think. Even when he threatened to sue both Akira and Ryuji they had given him another chance once Madarame’s lies came to light.

“Anyway I’m gonna grab a snack from downstairs.” Akira said and smiled up at him. Yusuke smiled back and watched his boyfriend go downstairs. He messaged the group chat about Akira wanting to go to Mementos to heal soon. Futaba was the first to respond.

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** I found the target’s name. It’s Satoshi Kasahiro

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** We need to deal with it before Akira wants to go to the Metaverse

**Makoto:** Sis came home so I asked her too and yes it’s Satoshi Kasahiro

**Ryuji:** How are we gonna get into Mementos without letting Akira know?

**Ann:** Ah…well I guess we could say we have stuff to do afterschool? Though I hate lying to him.

**Futaba (** **ᐛ )و:** Inari you gotta make sure to show this to Morgana too so he can come

**Makoto:** How is Akira doing today?

**Yusuke:** He is well. Futaba I will make sure Morgana is aware.

**Haru (** **ㆁᴗ** **ㆁ** **✿):** We should do this tomorrow, the sooner the better.

Akira came back up the stairs so Yusuke made sure to check their meeting time and place later. He cuddled with Akira on the couch and they watched a movie.

 

The team met up the next day at Shibuya and wordlessly travelled into Mementos. Mona and Oracle searched for their target who was towards the lower floors. Thankfully he was just before the opening to the new area of Mementos.

Queen took the lead with Fox, Skull, and Mona to back her up. They approached the shadow of the interrogator Satoshi Kasahiro who laughed wickedly at the sight of them.

“Wow? The famous Phantom Theives?” He laughed the distortion heavy in his voice. “Still running around without that brat of a leader huh? How unfortunate for you.”

“Shut your mouth you asshole.” Skull growled.

“I mean he left you all behind, killing himself like that. Pathetic.” He shook his head grinning at them. “Though I guess that means I broke the arrogant little shit in the end huh?”

“You…” Fox seethed.

“Even if you’re here to get rid of me there will always be people like me!” Satoshi laughed. “But I guess you need to be told the hard way.”

“Here he comes!” Oracle cried. They jumped back as his shadow changed into a shadow they had faced before. But they remembered from experience that they would be stronger.

“The lot of you damn brats just need to shut up and do as you’re told!” Satoshi laughed. “You’ll learn obedience!”

The battle wasn’t too long but it was a pain. Satoshi had kept taunting them about Akira and debuffing their defences. But it was over and Satoshi stood slumped as he moped. Yusuke didn’t even listen to him drivel on. They snatched the treasure and left Mementos.

Settling back into reality in the middle of the walkway was always hectic. No one said anything as they just stood there looking between themselves.

“Job well done everyone.” Morgana meowed from the bag Futaba had. “Let’s go see Akira.”

“If we tell him what we did-”

“No I just mean to visit. It’s been a while since the gang was together.” Morgana clarified. “How long were we gone for?”

“About two hours.” Ann said checking her phone. “Oh crap.”

“What is it?” Yusuke asked.

“Akira tried calling and texting…” She answered. Yusuke checked his phone and sure enough in the group chat Akira had been messaging them.

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** After whatever you’re doing do you all want to come to mine?

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** It’s been a while and being cooped up isn’t fun

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Has anyone seen Morgana? He went on a walk but he hasn’t come back

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Seriously where is he?

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Is he with one of you?

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Why aren’t any of you answering? Usually Ryuji, Ann, or Futaba say something by now

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** I asked Sojiro where Futaba went and he said you were at home but I checked and you’re not there neither is Morgana

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** This isn’t funny

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Where are you all?

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** …

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Futaba had a picture on her laptop open. You saw the footage.

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Where. Are. You.

 

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Ryuji said. Yusuke checked his own private messages with Akira.

 

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Please don’t tell me you really saw the footage?

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Did you guys lie to me about what you’d been doing?

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Are you going to change his heart?

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Yusuke please answer me

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** There’s no point in doing it why are you going to do it?

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Seriously

**Akira** (⌐■_■)⊹ **:** Studying, what a joke.

 

“We better high tail it to LeBlanc.” Morgana said. They all nodded and boarded the train. Futaba looked incredibly guilty.

“I thought I locked my laptop before I left…I was just checking to make sure it was the right guy.” She mumbled.

“It’s alright Futaba-chan. We don’t blame you or anything.” Haru said giving the girl a small hug. Yusuke sent back a text to Akira to say they were coming back. Akira was probably pissed or at least that was how it seemed. In a way he was right in saying that it wouldn’t change anything. Satoshi’s shadow had said that even if they got him others would do the same thing he did. Makoto had said her sister heard it was a necessary evil. But in the end it was over and done with. They changed his heart, it’s not like Akira could put it back. Though Akira might just be lashing out.

 

The walk to LeBlanc was tense. Everyone had messaged Akira to say they were coming back but he hadn’t replied. He might have been looking for them around Yogen. Yusuke opened the door to LeBlanc and saw Sojiro behind the counter. They greeted him walking past to go up to Akira’s room.

“He’s not in there you know.” Sojiro called. “Said he was going to meet you.”

“I have a really bad feeling about this.” Ryuji said and tried to call Akira only for it to fail.

“He probably went to Mementos.” Morgana said his voice quivered slightly.

“Boss when did Akira leave?” He asked.

“About over half an hour ago.” Sojiro replied frowning.

“If he was in Mementos at the same time as us I would have picked him up on my scanner.” Futaba said.

“Unless he entered after we left? We did have to wait for the train.” Makoto suggested.

“We’re going to have to go in again.” Haru said. “There’s no way he’s fit to fight shadows at the moment. Boss we’ll bring him back!” Before he could say anything they went upstairs and launched themselves into Mementos for the second time.

It felt awful to hope for but Yusuke hoped Akira had just passed out at the entrance or something. However there was no one at the entrance. Yusuke could feel the panic crawling up his throat.

“Fut- Oracle, can you scan for him?” He asked.

“Already on it.” She replied.

“He couldn’t have gotten far without transportation! It’ll be fine!” Mona assured them.

“He’s on the third level!” Oracle exclaimed.

“Of this floor?” Skull asked and Oracle shook her head.

“Third floor, he’s at one of the rest spots. Let’s go!” Oracle said urgently. They crawled into Mona and headed for the rest area. Fox’s leg kept bouncing as Queen drove them through like a maniac. They were stopped a few times to fight shadows and it was the most irritating thing ever. But Fox was glad for the chance to throw some of that nervous energy somewhere else.

They came to the rest area and Fox ran forward immediately. Surely enough Joker was there eyes closed and panting. He opened his eyes and winced but seeing Fox he went to stand immediately glaring.

“You guys…” He trailed off swaying to the side and Fox caught him.

“Are you an idiot?!” He yelled.

“That’s my line!” Joker yelled back and wheezed. His High Pixie persona came out and fixed him with a spell but it obviously wasn’t enough with the way Joker continued to lean on him for support.

“Let’s just get you out of here. We don’t need to talk about it here.” Queen said.

_“That’s not a good idea.”_ Arsene said materialising before them all. _“We had to fight, Joker would most likely not make the trip out unscathed.”_

“You had to fight?!” Fox yelled. “Are you seriously so –”

“Sit him down so we can heal him!” Mona yelled interrupting them. Fox huffed and helped Joker sit down. He slumped back in the chair and Fox noticed the blood in the other chair where he had sat before. There was a lot. Fox paled.

“A-Akira how badly did you get hurt?” He asked as Mona and Queen looked Joker over. Joker pushed the mask up onto his forehead and hissed through his teeth. Ann came over and they all joined in with hitting Joker with healing spells. Ryuji and Haru gave him something to replenish his energy. Fox could see now that the front of Joker’s outfit had been cut open. The skin was closed but bloodied and the suit was slowly forming back.

“Akira why did you come here?” Fox asked next.

“I was worried!” Joker tried to stand up quickly but fell back. “I had to fight it off when you said you were going into Mementos the other time.”

“Akira that was a stupid idea.” Queen chided. Looks like no one was going to use codenames.

“I mean we changed his heart so there’s no point in dwelling on it.” Skull huffed. Joker looked like he was going to try and stand again but Noir patted his hand and he stayed down still breathing heavily. He said nothing further.

“Look, I know it wasn’t something you wanted. But we had to do it.” Panther said crouching down in front of Joker. “What…what he did to you was brutal. You were lying when you said you couldn’t remember what happened when you were drugged weren’t you?” Joker refused to meet her gaze and settled on staring at the wall. “We heard you call out for Yusuke, we heard you break.” He stiffened up immediately his hands balling into fists.

“Why didn’t you want us to see the footage?” Noir asked gently.

“I knew I was going to break. It was embarrassing.” Joker said his voice tight.

“It wasn’t embarrassing. It was infuriating.” Fox said firmly.

“This one was growling through it.” Oracle said pointing at Fox and then she looked down at her feet. “It was hard to watch.”

“I didn’t want you to watch it either for that reason.” Joker sighed. “You all know how my arrest was unfair and seeing me suffering like that for a plan we made would have hurt. You all would have blamed yourselves.” No one spoke because it was true. The wounds Akira had suffered were a constant reminder of their guilt from the plan. “There was no need for petty revenge.”

_“He says that but he’s truly concerned about showing you such a weak side.”_ Arsene said manifesting again. _“Be more honest.”_

Joker huffed and grumbled to himself.

_“Deep down he’s thankful for you coming to get him as well.”_ High Pixie said as Arsene faded away and she manifested. _“He wouldn’t have been able to make the trip home with my powers as weak as they are.”_

“Without phone service in the Metaverse you would have been stuck here.” Queen said and sighed. “Leader you truly are reckless.”

“You’re seriously crazy man.” Skull said. Mona cast another healing spell on Joker.

“At least my other wounds are healing.” Joker replied with a shrug. He took off his jacket and the rest of them were surprised to see the vest underneath. But more importantly the bruises and cuts on his arm were gone. He went a step further and opened his vest exposing his chest and Fox swallowed hard. Half-dressed Joker was…incredibly attractive to say the least. But he pushed past his sudden desire to look at the fading bruises on his chest and stomach along with the marks around his throat. However Akechi’s bite mark still marred his body.

“Hey look.” Panther snickered nudging Skull in the side. They both looked at him and he looked back confused.

“Someone’s ready to pounce.” Oracle teased. Fox looked at them still incredibly confused.

“Oh, aha.” Joker laughed softly blushing. “Your tail.” Fox looked over to see his tail was wagging away intensely, though he still had no idea how it wagged weird cognitive stuff no doubt. He blushed hard and caught his tail holding it in his hands so it would stop wagging.

“Traitor.” He whispered at it.

“How about the wounds on your legs?” Queen asked.

“I…uh…” Joker trailed off sheepishly.

“Wait a second do we even have underwear on?” Oracle asked. “It feels like it but is our suit just supporting everything?”

“Now that you mention it…” Panther trailed off.

“Maybe it’s a cognition thing.” Noir supplied. “So you don’t want to take them off because you’re pretty much naked there right?”

“I have underwear on but I…um…have thigh highs.” Joker confessed. They stared at him.

“Thigh highs.” Queen said and Joker nodded. “Thigh highs.” Fox dropped his tail thinking of what that would look like. Joker without his coat just in his vest with thigh highs and those boots he wore with his red gloved hands covering h- Stop that train of thought right there. Panther was snickering again so he caught his tail guessing that it had been wagging once more.

“That’s a cognition thing though.” Oracle said.

“I like them okay.” Joker mumbled embarrassed. Oh the things they could do.

“That’s erotic.” Fox said and slapped a hand over his mouth blushing.

“I have never felt more awkward than I do now.” Mona said and shook his head with his hands on his hips. “We should head back.”

“Can you make the journey to the entrance?” Queen asked Joker who nodded while fixing up his clothes.

“I got down here with my third eye ability. I only had to fight because a shadow manifested as I opened a door.” Joker told her.

“I’ll find us a safe path.” Oracle said with a fist pump in the air.

 

When they returned to the café Akira sat back down on his sofa with a sigh. They crowded around him looking him over but he waved them off.

“Sorry.” He said. “For doing something so reckless, I was really worried. But still I shouldn’t have gone in the state I was in.”

“I’m surprised you got so far into Mementos on your own without Morgana.” Futaba said.

“Despite not being at the top of my game I do have a lot of stamina.” Akira told her with a grin. Yusuke felt Ann and Ryuji nudge his sides with their elbows both of them wiggling their eyebrows.

“A lot of stamina he says.” Ann snickered Yusuke flushed understanding what they were implying and pushed them away by their faces.

“Stop with the implications that we’re fucking.” Yusuke said.

“He said it again!” Futaba exclaimed. “Also you’re a big liar.”

“Says who?” Yusuke scoffed.

“The bugs in LeBlanc.” Futaba countered.

“Okay we haven’t had sex fully yet but we’ve done some stuff.” Yusuke ended up saying.

“Wow I didn’t know that would work.” Futaba replied. “Thanks for spilling the beans Inari.”

“Stop talking about my sex life…” Akira groaned.

“It’s fun.” Haru replied with a giggle.

“How far have you gone with Makoto?” He countered and Haru blushed spluttering.

“Man you gotta take the bugs outta LeBlanc, or at least Akira’s room before you get scarred.” Ryuji said to Futaba who shook her head.

“I never have the ones upstairs on for that reason.” She said. “Teenagers are wild, yes yes.”

“You’re a teenager too.” Ann pointed out.

“You don’t need to hear Akira getting effed halfway to Sunday.” Ryuji said earning a smack to the back of the head from Yusuke. “Speaking of effed tho. Akechi has the hots for you huh?”

“Oh…you saw that too…” Akira trailed off rubbing the back of his neck. “I had a feeling.”

“Still, he was ultra-gay for Akira and still killed him?” Ann sighed. “Talk about conflicting.”

“Speaking of Akechi, we should decide what to do next.” Akira said but yawned. “Tomorrow. Everyone rest up. Thanks again for coming to get me.”

They took it as a dismissal so they said their goodbyes and left. Aside from Yusuke of course. After letting Sojiro know that Akira was okay and after Akira getting the lecture of a life time the two sat on the sofa upstairs in silence.

“How are your legs?” Yusuke asked breaking it. “Can I have a look?”

“I mean if you wanted to get me out of my pants you could just take me to dinner or something.” Akira teased and Yusuke laughed.

“I apologise my sweet, maybe we can get dinner another time and I will ‘woo’ you.” He teased back and Akira snorted as he laughed. “As much as I don’t like that you were in Mementos alone it was a good chance to heal your wounds. So let’s see your legs.”

“Man you have no tact.” Akira mumbled shrugging off his pants. He was still in his loungewear so he must have cycled around after leaving LeBlanc to climb into his room just in case he had to leave. The bruises still painted his pale skin but not as drastically as before. The puncture marks from the needles had cleared up and some of the cuts had gone. Yusuke knelt down to check the few cuts he had left on his thighs and felt Akira jump at the touch of his hand.

“Okay and now your shirt.” Yusuke told him. Akira looked down at him and swallowed before taking his shirt off. Yusuke stood up and checked his back, the skin had healed but there was still a bad mess of jagged white scars. He came back around to the front. As he saw before Akira’s bruises were fading but a new scar was there. A long thin line stretching across his shoulder to his hip. It was incredibly thin. It was probably a wound from a shadow. He traced a finger along it and Akira twitched. He stood up straight and smiled.

“Your wounds are almost healed.” He said relieved. “Please don’t do anything rec-mmf!” He was cut off when Akira surged forward and kissed him wrapping his arms around Yusuke’s neck. Once the surprise faded he kissed Akira back softly.

“You wind me up so much.” Akira breathed when they pulled away.

“I think that’s my line.” Yusuke chuckled. “Thigh highs?”

“I-I…well I’ve always like them…” Akira mumbled.

“How did you even realise you were wearing them?” Yusuke asked.

“I had a dumb thought one day and wondered if I was wearing underwear.” Akira answered rubbing the back of his neck. “And I took off my pants and sure enough there they were. To be fair since our outfits are kind of based on our Personas I shouldn’t be surprised. Arsene has those thigh high boots.”

“Thigh highs huh…” Yusuke trailed off. “And that vest…”

“Oh? Awakening to a new kink?” Akira teased and laughed.

“You really broaden my horizons.” Yusuke said softly in his ear Akira hummed in response. “Shall we go to bed?”

“That almost sounds like a proposition, considering you had me strip.” Akira pointed out. “But it’s been a long day. Let’s sleep.”

That night as Akira snuggled closer to him in his sleep Yusuke thought of what they could do after high school. Maybe they could move into an apartment. One with a balcony so Akira could grow some flowers and he could paint the landscape. A fish, well lobster, tank in the lounge, maybe one of those ones where the kitchen was connected to the lounge. He could sit and watch Akira prepare coffee or curry from the other side. Before he knew it he had fallen asleep.


	10. Justice Rank Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> I love changing everything around. Most of my headcanons about the abilities are in here so even if I'm wrong for the purpose of this story that's just how it is  
> I'm going to start a one shot series and another story soon!

Shido Masayoshi. He had been the one behind both Akira’s arrest and Akechi’s betrayal. The main reason Akira had come to Tokyo was because of him. Akira had no idea if he should thank him for that, not only did he make new friends and get a boyfriend he also got his chance to expose Shido for the filthy liar and abuser of power he was. Akira made his palace one of the top priorities after they finished a few Mementos requests.

The only sad part about moving on from his interrogation was that Yusuke had to return to the dorms. Granted he did spend a few nights over but Sojiro and Sae said it might get suspicious if he stayed.

However their infiltration was going brilliantly. But the information they had discovered was disturbing. Shido had been the cause for most of the corrupt happenings in Tokyo. Akira did not like the implication that Akechi was the one carrying out most of these deeds either. It was disgusting.

 

The team had just finished getting a letter of introduction from the cleaner and were making their way back to the front main door when Joker saw him. Akechi was standing on a level above where they were looking down on them. The others didn’t seem to notice but Joker stopped. Akechi jumped down quietly, the others still hadn’t noticed. Even Oracle which was a surprise to Joker. She must have been tired from their fight. Akechi came over to him quietly, Akira could see the rage seething beneath the surface.

“So you survived.” He said, they were practically inches apart now. “I knew you were spectacular.”

“Can’t get rid of me that easy Goro.” Joker said not missing the way Akechi’s lip curled in disgust from his familiarity.

“Hey!” Skull yelled. Joker turned to see the group running back towards them angrily. Fox especially looked ready to tear Akechi apart.

“Joker he-” He knew without Oracle telling him and side stepped Akechi’s attack which would have piercing him through the chest. Akechi took another jab and Joker side stepped again before they jumped away from each other with Mona’s Garu attack coming between them. The others came over to his side immediately, Fox stuck to Joker’s left glaring at Akechi

“I have to say you don’t disappoint.” Akechi said clapping but he was looking directly at Joker as he spoke and ignored the others. “Truly I was right to take such an interest in you. I am impressed you managed to deceive me. In another life maybe we could have been rivals or maybe friends.”

“It’s not too late.” Joker said to which Akechi laughed.

“You’re so funny.” He said. “You are so free, never tied down by the relationships of others or your past. I really do envy that of you.”

“Oh?” Joker said. He was partially wrong there, but he let Akechi speak. The detective smiled and looked off to the side.

“Why didn’t we meet a few years earlier?” He said. “But…talking about what-ifs is pointless now. That wasn’t how things happened.”

“Why are you helping Shido?” Queen interrupted drawing Akechi’s focus away from Joker for the first time. “You’ve been in here, you’ve seen what he thinks of the world and everything. So why?”

“Helping? What are you talking about? I don’t care what happens to this country.” Akechi scoffed. “This is for my father to recognise me and suffer at my hand when I exact my revenge.”

“Shido…is your father?” Fox asked surprised. Akechi put a hand on his hip cocking his head to the side.

“You remember me telling you before that my mother was the lover of an awful man.” He said and curled his lip again. “I’m a bastard child, my life is nothing but a scandal to him. My mother died after giving birth to me, an unwanted child. I was tossed to foster homes left right and centre.”

“That’s awful…” Panther said sadly.

“I detested him for the longest time, cursing him with every breath. But he was a lord of the ruling party and I was a child, there was nothing I could do.” Akechi started to laugh. “That’s when I discovered the cognitive world! Be it the gods or demons I was given a chance and I couldn’t stop laughing! In this eat or be eaten world I was given the power to get rid of scum! Who cared anyway, it was no different to what the Phantom Thieves were doing!”

“We’re not murderers!” Oracle exclaimed angrily. “That’s not what we do!”

“Who cares?! I was that much closer to my revenge, so much closer to getting what I wanted from Shido. Once he reached the peak of his political career and recognised me as his right hand man I would tell him who I was. Then I, the unwanted scandal child, could be in control! I would finally surpass him!” Akechi laughed wickedly.

“He’s absolutely twisted…” Fox breathed. He wasn’t wrong. Joker frowned slightly behind his mask, he wanted to save Akechi not fight him.

“It would have worked out, a few weeks and I could have had my revenge. But you.” Akechi glared at Joker. “All of you…But! I can still work out if I kill you!”

“Heh. That’s rich if you think you’re going to kill us.” Mona scoffed. “You’re acting all high and mighty but you’re just a kid throwing a tantrum.”

“Don’t you dare lecture me you piece of trash.” Akechi hissed at Mona. “I will drag Shido Masayoshi into the depths of hell. So Joker, rest easy and die.”

“Don’t get so cocky.” Skull huffed. “We worked together, we know most of your abilities!” Akechi laughed at that.

“Wow Joker…I always knew you kept idiots in your company but this is still funny.” He said.

“You’re in no position to bluff!” Skull exclaimed.

“No, it’s no bluff. If he was working to betray us he would have only shown us a fraction of his power.” Queen interjected. “We don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“I’ll give you a crash course lecture on my real power, as I kill you.” Akechi laughed. Two shadows appeared behind him joining him in the battle. They all took up positions. “Those mental shutdown cases, all of them. So unexplained why people would suddenly go mad. Being killed in their palace did that but those minor people, the ones without palaces littered through mementos. The power to cause it belongs to me!”

“He’s about to do something…” Oracle warned, they all took up a guarding stance.

“Persona!” Akechi cried. It wasn’t Robin Hood, this shocked everyone but Akira. He always had some sort of feeling, maybe Igor had something to do with that. Using his new persona he did something to the two shadows near him, they turned wilder in an instant.

“Even these weaklings can become super strong when you break their chains.” Akechi told them with a small laugh. “It’s best you don’t underestimate me.”

“Their power is going through the roof!” Oracle exclaimed. “What did he do?”

There was barely any time to talk strategy as the shadows lunged at them. Akechi summoned a few more and did the same thing to them. Oracle buffed their evasion skills while Skull and Queen buffed their offence and defence.

The battle started in chaos, they could barely predict the enemy’s radical movement. Joker tried to catch their attention recognising some of the shadows still had the same weakness as the ones he had collected but their focus was on his team. They had rushed past him and blocked him off but from there he could attack from behind.

“It’s not them you should be watching!” Akechi yelled and Joker was too late to dodge the kick to his chest that sent him reeling back.

“Joker!” Oracle cried out.

“Focus on the others!” He ordered back.

“But-”

“The shadows are keeping me away from helping. Keep them covered.” Joker ordered getting to his feet properly. “It’s just you and me.”

“Perfect.” Akechi laughed and lunged at him with his sword. Joker parried it with his dagger. They danced around each other dodging and striking. He could hear his team had only taken down one of the shadows so far.

“Fox is knocked down!” Oracle yelled and Joker turned to run back when Akechi grabbed his arm in the distraction.

“Those weak shadows aren’t the only ones I can give a shutdown to.” He hissed. “You’re battle is with me, not helping them.” Joker swallowed and tossed some healing items around. Oracle seemed to understand and picked them up helping out the group.

“W-what? Joker’s facing Akechi alone?!” He heard Panther yell.

“Focus on what’s in front of you!” Queen ordered.

Joker turned back to Akechi who pushed his mask off his face and started shooting. He narrowly dodged the first one rolling out of the way. When he predicted that Akechi would run out of bullets he didn’t. He was stuck running around and dodging the bullets. Akechi must have brought ammo with him.

Joker fired back a few times having no time to stop and use his persona. He could hear his team struggling. Akechi continued to shoot but it gave Joker a plan. He cycled around so that he was able to face both Akechi and the shadows and used the move that Shinya had taught him aiming at the strongest shadow right behind Akechi. Akechi dodged as predicted, he was able to knock the enemy down, but Akechi shot him through the shoulder and he hissed in pain as the shadow fighting his team fell.

“You…” Akechi seethed storming over to him. Joker put away his gun and back stepped away from him. The team downed another shadow only for another one to appear. This time it wasn’t berserk as Akechi was too focused on him. Joker cast a quick Dia spell to dull the pain and turned to block Akechi’s strike. “Always looking out for your friends! It’s sickening!”

“You were one of the people I looked out for.” Joker pointed out and rolled back.

“Your need to protect your friends got you arrested and tortured.” Akechi seethed. “Your ‘friends’ expect everything from you. You do the weapons run, the health run, you take care of their stupid problems and get nothing in return! There’s a limit!”

“What is this really about Akechi?” Joker snapped.

“You’re just a piece of attic trash with trashy friends, why do you have more than I do?” Akechi growled. “I had to work hard at everything, the people who wanted to befriend me always wanted something from me. How come you get a free pass?!” He surged forward and knocked the weapon from Joker’s hand. Joker turned quickly with his back against Akechi’s chest as he grabbed his hands and applied pressure so he would drop the saber. They each kicked the others weapon away and jumped back at the same time summoning their personas. They each charged an attack but waited having no idea when the other would strike. Seeing as he had summoned Robin Hood Akechi and Joker’s personas were weak to each other and with one wrong step it would be over.

Another shadow fell but they both didn’t move.

“One left!” Oracle shouted.

“Let’s get this over with to help Joker!” Queen commanded. Joker looked to the side and Akechi struck. But he predicted this and attacked at the same time leaving the both of them no time to dodge. They both cried out in pain knocking each other down.

“Joker!” Fox yelled. “Joke-”

It took a bit for the both of them to get back up again and Akechi rushed for his weapon so Joker did the same. Akechi got his first and charged towards Akira but he back flipped out of the way. Their dance began again. Joker focused on dodging more than attacking this time.

“Akechi.” He said. “We don’t have to fight. Our goals are almost the same.”

“Your goal is nothing like mine!” He yelled. “Your goal won’t bring me justice!”

“Where’s your sense of justice!” Joker replied. “He should suffer for what he’s done.”

“Changing his heart won’t accomplish that!” Akechi screamed.

“You think he wouldn’t know who you were?!” Joker countered. “You think he doesn’t have a plan against you?”

“Shut up.” Akechi said weakly. He must have considered it, he was smart. Akechi had to have considered the possibility with what he shared with Shido already.

“You think that everything will work out the way you want?” Joker asked blocking again. “You think you have a chance just doing this on your own?”

“Shut up!” He yelled going to shoot him at point blank but missed.

“He’s suspicious of everyone, he would be suspicious of you too!” Joker continued. “The moment you disobeyed you would probably be taken care of. You don’t have a chance alone!”

“Shut up shut up shut up!” Akechi screamed summoning Robin Hood and grabbing Joker by the collar. He tried to push back but Akechi hit him with a direct heavy bless attack and he fell with a groan rolling onto his side. Akechi huffed and puffed and rolled him back over pinning his arms above his head with one hand and grabbing his saber holding it ready to pierce him through the throat with the other.

“You know I’m right Akechi.” Joker said not backing down. “You can’t do it alone. It’ll be suicide.”

“Why won’t you shut up?!” Akechi raised the saber to drive it down when he was knocked off Joker with Mona’s wind attack. Joker was caught up in the blast and they both hit nearby pipes. Joker swayed off to the side to give himself distance from Akechi.

“Joker. Thank god.” Panther said as his team ran up to him helping him onto his feet properly and healing him.

“He didn’t use that new persona against you.” Skull pointed out.

“Robin Hood and Arsene are weak to each other.” Joker told him. Fox and Queen went to attack Akechi but Joker held up a hand stopping them and stepped forward. Akechi was glaring at him.

“Yo-”

“You know I’m right.” He said and walked forward a little. Akechi summoned Robin Hood again, a warning for him. Joker stopped. “Akechi. Join us.”

“You’re seriously fucked in the head.” Akechi spat.

“Joker are yo-”

“You’re another victim of shitty adults.” Joker said interrupting Skull. “You’d fit in with us.”

“None of your team thinks that! They hate me!” Akechi yelled. “Stop being such an idiot!”

“Tha-”

“I killed Haru’s father.” Akechi said. “I almost killed Makoto’s sister. I killed Futaba’s mother! I kept trying to steal you away from your boyfriend and I killed you in cold blood! You think forgiveness will come easily from stuff like this?” Joker bit his lip. It was true. As much as he wanted Akechi to join them it would be pointless if he ignored his team’s feelings.

“You were ordered to do it right?” Oracle said popping out of her persona. “Kill my mother, take her research. Shido made you do it.”

“I still did it.” Akechi said.

“Shido ordered you to kill my father as well isn’t that correct.” Noir said her grip loosening slightly on her axe. “While I don’t forgive the action, I pity you. You were used as a tool.”

“You could have killed my sister as we left her palace but you didn’t.” Queen said. “You liked her as a role model didn’t you?”

“Even so-”

“Do you regret it?” Oracle asked. “After getting to know us did you regret what you did to us?”

“Regret won’t do shit for you.” Akechi choked out. The answer there was clear.

“Revenge on you won’t do anything for us.” Noir said. “In the past maybe I would have tried to…but now I realise. You didn’t want to do it. You just wanted attention from your father.”

“Shut-”

“Shido fucked you over.” Skull said. “He used you for all his dirty work so he could climb the tower and take over the world.”

“All the people you killed, how many were you acting on your own belief of justice?” Panther asked. “You killed someone interrogating Akira.”

“No I didn’t.” Akechi replied.

“You did.” Oracle said. “He had a mental shutdown. What was he to your plan?”

“He…” Akechi trailed off.

“I dug around his personal things. He was a murderer who planted evidence on the people he would interrogate.” Oracle continued.

“I wanted the satisfaction of killing Akira m-”

“The kiss says otherwise.” Fox said stepping forward. “The way you listened to him as well. You didn’t need to. Deep down you don’t want to do any of this do you? Deep down you were hoping for Joker to save you.”

“Who cares what Shido thinks? You’re your own person!” Skull added.

“You can start over again, it’s not too late.” Oracle said. “Thinking back on the Medjet incident I was able to change from what you did.”

“Even if you killed us you wouldn’t be happy would you?” Queen said.

“You know nothing!” Akechi yelled staggering to his feet. “You got everything even though you’re trash! I had to work so hard for my grades, for the approval of the shitty adults around me! So why?! Why did you get everything so easily?! What makes you more special than me?!”

“That’s not true.” Joker said.

“Don’t give me your pity and stop saying things you don’t mean! I’m not losing this way!” He screamed. “You wanted to see my power right? I’ll show you. I’ll show you arrogant fucks! Who cares about Shido anymore! You’re going to die!”

Akechi flashed black for a second and they all jumped back. Akechi started to laugh.

“Come, Loki!” power burst around him and the black persona appeared properly this time, Akechi’s outfit changing with it. There were no doubts about it now. Akechi had two personas.

“Ake…” Joker trailed off shocked as Akechi used the berserk move on himself driving him mad. That couldn’t be permanent for him would it? He couldn’t say anything as the group prepared to fight.

Akechi was relentless in his attacks towards Joker singling him about once again. The rest of his team tried to keep up as Akechi practically chased him around the room. He swapped personas but Akechi used a trick shot landing a critical hit and causing Joker to fall. He struggled to his feet Mona throwing a healing spell his way as Akechi was upon him trying to skewer him. Queen saved him by shooting at Akechi’s feet forcing him to dodge and giving Joker time to run back to a safe distance.

The battle this time was even longer and Joker could feel himself tiring out faster. They had dealt with the cleaner earlier and fighting Akechi twice was not helping. Being Akechi’s target out of the rest of them had not been fun as well.

“Watch your health Joker!” Oracle said as she buffed their defences. It seemed like they were on the final stretch. Akechi seemed to be slowing down.

“Mona heal Fox!” He commanded. Fox had been using skills that ate up his health since his ice attacks hadn’t worked. Skull buffed his team and Joker went in strong. Akechi tried to beat him to the punch but wasn’t able and fell to the ground with a groan. Joker stayed close, ready to attack if necessary. But Akechi only struggled to get to his knees, Joker lowered his weapon.

“You ready to call it quits man?” Skull asked.

“I…I know I’ve…I’ve had enough.” Akechi said sadly and looked at Joker. “You’re so lucky. To be surrounded by teammates no, friends who acknowledge and adore you. Then once Shido confesses to all his crimes, you’ll all be heroes.”

“Akechi…” Joker trailed off.

“As for me…well. People will realise my deductions were just a charade. My fame, and trust…it’ll vanish.” Akechi sounded close to tears.

“So you turned people psychotic and solved the case yourself.” Mona said. “You could do that when you joined forces with Shido.” Akechi laughed bitterly.

“In the end, I wasn’t able to be special.” He said looking down at the ground between his hands.

“Dude…you’re more than special.” Skull said and Akechi lifted his head surprised.

“We wouldn’t have had a chance against you without the rest of the team or without Joker.” Queen added. “You and my sister have always trusted each other and…it made me jealous. Of your natural ability and of how you could easily earn her trust.”

“If you have the ability to use more than one Persona you’re like Joker.” Oracle said. “But because your powers grew from your loneliness and hatred was dark. But you thought it was enough. I get it.”

“You, it pains me to admit it, excelled at everything over us.” Fox said. “But you lacked something, which would have made you stronger.” Akechi looked to Fox shocked.

“Alright then. Let’s get to makin’ that calling card.” Skull said loudly. “We’re gonna take Shido down. What do you want to do?”

“You could join us.” Panther suggested the rest of them nodding to the suggestion. Joke couldn’t help smiling.

“Are…are you all idiots? Why won’t you get rid of me? I’ll only get in your way.” Akechi stopped for a moment and gave a broken chuckle. “You all are really…I just can’t understand you guys.” He looked back up at Joker with hopeful eyes. Joker stepped forward again reaching out to help Akechi up but stopped in shock. Another Akechi had appeared.

“T-that’s…Shido’s cognitive version of Akechi!” Mona exclaimed. The cognitive Akechi laughed pulling a gun on Akechi who looked back at him livid.

“I’ll deal with the rest of you later.” Cognitive Akechi said then looked back to Akechi. “As Captain Shido commands. He has no need for losers. Though I suppose this just changes the plan up again once again because of the Phantom Thieves. He was always going to get rid of you.”

“What?” Akechi asked.

“Did you really believe you’d be spared? After all the murders you committed? Did it feel good to have someone rely on you for once?” Cognitive Akechi laughed coldly. “The captain says it’s time you received retribution for causing all the mental shutdowns.”

“You asshole that was because Shido made him do it!” Skull exclaimed. Akechi laughed struggling to his feet.

“Of course…I was wondering how he would protect himself if I tore through his palace with my powers.” He said. “Turns out he gets another puppet to kill me, that’s so very like him.”

“Of course, I’ll do anything for Shido.” Cognitive Akechi said.

“This…this is how he sees Akechi?” Queen asked horrified.

“But all along you were the true puppet Akechi. You wanted to feel important, to be loved and acknowledged. But all along from the start you were nothing more than a puppet.” Cognitive Akechi grinned wickedly.

“It’s not too late Akechi!” Noir cried. “We can change his heart together. Even if he is your…no because he’s your father!”

“Akechi you don’t have to do this alone anymore.” Joker said. “Come with us.” Akechi looked at them all truly touched by what they had said.

“What’s all this noise about?” Cognitive Akechi hissed. “Want me to take care of you first? I’ll gladly do so.” Four shadows appeared around him startling the group.

“He’s got shadows too!” Panther exclaimed. Cognitive Akechi laughed.

“How about this? I’ll let someone take his place.” He said waving his gun around a little. “It could delay his death, who knows?”

“Damn you you asshole!” Skull growled. Joker went to move but Fox blindly grabbed his arm as if predicting what he would do.

“Why won’t you let him? You’re all about doing things for others isn’t that right?” Cognitive Akechi laughed cruelly. “Just like me! I’m going to take every bit of blame for our dear captain. I’ll even die for him!”

“This is disgusting. This is what he thinks of Akechi after making him commit those murders?!” Queen snarled. Cognitive Akechi turned back to Akechi.

“I’ll give you one last chance to redeem yourself.” He said. “Shoot them. Kill them.”

“I…” Akechi laughed. “I’m such a fool.” He pointed the gun at Joker startling all of them.

“Yes!” Cognitive Akechi cried out happily. “This is what you’re supposed to be for our captain. This is what he wants to see!”

“Don’t kid yourself.” Akechi laughed. “I’m not getting rid of them!” He turned and shot Shido’s cognition of him which fell to the ground with a groan. He turned back to them pointing the gun in their direction. Joker could see his gaze set on something else. He took his arm from Fox’s loose grip and ran forward as sirens blared and an announcement came over the speaker system. He jumped over the rising gate and landed. Hefelt a gust of air as the way back closed behind him.

“Y-you idiot!” Akechi yelled. “You were supposed to go!”

“I guess I’m stupider than I thought.” Joker replied grinning.

_“Akechi! Joker!”_ Skull yelled from the other side of the door.

_“Joker why do you always do such reckless things?!”_ Fox screamed.

“Look you even made your boyfriend upset.” Akechi pointed out. Joker flipped the dagger in his hand and caught it.

“I think there are more pressing issues here.” He said gesturing to the shadows and cognitive Akechi.

“You Phantom Thieves…” the cognition seethed. “Kill them!”

“Akechi, we’re both not at 100%.” Joker said low as Akechi raised his saber. “We need to work together.”

“That goes without saying, you dumbass.” Akechi scoffed. “Left.”

“Okay.” Joker chuckled. The shadows rushed at them and they separated dodging out of the way. The four of them hit the shutter with a loud crash. He could still hear his teammates on the other side of the door.

_“Can’t you have this door faster?!”_ Skull was yelling.

_“I can’t hack it if it’s broken physically!”_ Oracle yelled back. He rolled avoiding gunshot from the weakened cognitive Akechi.

“Joker!” Akechi yelled to him. The met on the other side weapons at the ready.

“Let’s take you down.” Joker said to him. Akechi nodded.

“I’m getting sick of his shit.” He replied. “But I’m running on adrenaline here.”

“Here.” Joker swapped his persona and cast a healing spell on him.

“You should save your energy.” Akechi hissed.

“I’m not letting you die here.” Joker laughed. A shot between where they were standing brought their focus back to the battle. “Let’s go.” They both drew their guns unloading onto all their enemies. Cognitive Akechi was weak but annoying. Akechi got the last shot in on his cognitive self a smirk appearing on his face when the cognition screamed fading to black. However one of the shadows they had stunned with a gunshot had come back to. They had four shadows to deal with. Joker could see they were only weak to moderately levelled compared to him and Akechi. But the two of them were injured. One wrong step and they would die. With the partition in front of them closed the one behind them had come into effect as well. They were trapped. It was do or die.

“Joker. What should we do?” Akechi asked as they stared down the shadows.  A Cerberus, Garuda, Sarasvati, and Baphomet. They kept moving closer as if trying to intimidate them.

“Garuda is weak to gunfire, Cerberus to Ice, Sarasvati to Nuclear. I have personas to take em out but I need time between switching. Baphomet is weak to Bless attacks. Can you switch?”

“Of course.” Akechi replied. “How much ammo do you have left?”

“Very little.” Joker replied. He felt the shift of Akechi’s personas and saw his outfit had changed back to the regal prince one. “How’s your health?”

“Good enough, yours?” Akechi asked gripping his saber tighter.

“Good enough.” Joker mirrored. They laughed and the shadows lunged. “It’s show time!”

The two ran away from the attack as they had before, Akechi turned halfway through using a Kougaon to knock down the Baphomet.

“One more!” He called out passing Joker and slapping his hand Joker downed Sarsvati with a Freila destroying the shadow instantly. Technically they didn’t have to yell it but Joker couldn’t resist teasing the little mess up Akechi had made there.

“One more!” Joker laughed rolling back.

“Don’t make fun of me!” Akechi called back casting a Kouga on the Baphomet destroying it. Their chain ended with Garuda’s Magarudyne knocking them back. Wasting no time they jumped back up and ran around again.

The Cerberus lunged towards him and Joker dodged swiping at him with his dagger only to have it counter and hurt him instead. He cursed backing up. Akechi tried to use a Hamaon on the Garuda. The attack reflected but thank god Akechi seemed to have a resistance to Bless damage and didn’t insta-kill himself.

“Joker! Regroup!” Akechi yelled. Joker resisted the Agidyne Cerberus cast and bolted he expected the Garuda to come after him but the Garuda stuck back and buffed itself and Cerberus.

“Shit.” He cursed swapping his persona. He used a Bufu only for Cerberus to dodge out of the way. “It upped their agility.”

“Do you have enough energy for more spells?” Akechi asked. “I’m almost at my limit.”

“Yeah. I can use physical skills too but it’ll eat away at me.” Joker replied. “A last resort.”

“We-” Whatever Akechi went to say was cut off as both of them were hit with a buffed attack from Garuda. They landed critical hits and used the time it took Akechi and Joker to get back up to heal.

“Fuck.” Joker swore. “I only have one of these left.” He held up some of Takemi’s medicine. It would give them a little bit of health back but he had used most of their good healing items through the battle when Mona fell against the cleaner.

“It gives us a chance.” Akechi said with a nod. “If that Cerberus burns us it’ll set up for Garuda to follow up and hurt us more.” They took the medicine.

“Take out the Garuda then?” Joker asked. Akechi nodded and Joker buffed their defences and went back to cycling around dodging the attacks from Cerberus to gang up on Garuda.

“Fire!” Akechi shouted and they both finished their ammo off on the Garuda. It fell down and Joker swapped his persona to hit it with a Zionga. It faded to black with a scream and Joker turned back to the Cerberus. They both launched at it with a strike which wasn’t countered this time. Akechi jumped back casting a Megidolaon on the Cerberus. It cried out but didn’t die.

“Shit, I don’t think I can do any more skills.” Akechi huffed.

“I’ve got some left in me.” Joker said. “I can take it from here.”

“I’ll be right by your side though.” Akechi said standing with his saber ready.

“Oh? Will you join us later then?” Joker teased and Akechi laughed.

“Let’s survive first.” He said.

 

They danced around the Cerberus attacking and dodging whittling down its health. Joker swapped Personas and was able to buff their evasion again. But he was left with two choices. Risk a Bufudyne and use the rest of his spell energy, or attack with a Bufu twice. He looked at Akechi. Both their attack power and speed had gone down with their exhaustion. He risked it. He cast Bufudyne getting a direct hit but at the same time the Cerberus hit Akechi with a Megaton Raid and Akechi crashed back into the far wall with a cry of pain. He struggled to get back up again but he was alive. Joker scrapped his second chance for an attack trying to run towards Akechi but halfway through the Cerberus pounced blocking his path.

It played him around trying to keep him away from Akechi who was looking seriously worse for wear. Akechi was more important now, he wasn’t about to let him die here. The Cerberus kept blocking him but didn’t attack. It took a pause and Joker ran past it, he had enough to cast a Dia on Akechi and that would help him a bit.

“You idiot!” Akechi cried. A siren wailed, he saw a flash of blue, then he was slammed into the shutter that had closed them off from his team. He heard and felt something crack and face planted to the ground. He shakily tried to push his body up. Blood was pooling and dripping around him. He had a feeling it might be his but it felt so fuzzy.

“-ker!” He could barely hear but tried to focus bringing himself to his knees. Who was calling him? “Joker! Jo-. Akira! AKIRA GET OUT OF THERE!” He lifted his head. Cerberus was in front of him a giant paw ready to strike. He had played right into its trap. He could barely move his body.

_“Chivalrous to the very end.”_ Arsene’s voice drifted into his head. He felt his eyes close vaguely aware of Akechi screaming. Then he felt a blast of cold and heard the shadow scream. The trademark sound of it disintegrating caused him to open his eyes. His vision blurred but he could make out Fox on the other side of the room and Akechi trying to crawl his way over.

“Akira!” Akechi called, he pushed himself up but fell back on his legs. Something was running down the side of his face. He closed his eyes again and heard footsteps. When he opened them Fox was there, he could see the panic under his mask. A shaky hand came up to cup his cheek and he leaned into it for a moment before his head lolled to the side slightly. Yusuke’s blue glove came back stained with red.

“Sorry…” He slurred. The room was dancing, he was tired.

“Akira-” Whatever Fox said he couldn’t hear as he fell to the ground. His eyes opened slightly to see Akechi’s panic stricken look and he let out a chuckle. Or struggled to, there was blood in his mouth. The view changed and he was looking up at Yusuke. He wanted to poke between his eyebrows but he couldn’t move his arm. Then it faded to black.

 

 

Yusuke had thought the interrogation was the worst damage he could see Akira take. He was wrong. Watching his boyfriend’s body fly across the room like a ragdoll and smash into the metal door was terrifying. Akechi screaming made it worse. The overpowering smell of blood made it even worse. The sight of Akira laying limp in his own blood would not leave his mind anytime soon.

It felt like a blur as they made it to the closest saferoom. Skull had carried Akechi who was kicking and screaming demanding to see if Joker was alive while Oracle had taken Akira into Necronomicon, which Yusuke was unaware she could do, and tried to keep his condition stable.

Mona worked with Queen and Panther to try and heal both Akira and Akechi. Akechi had calmed down somewhat as Noir used a few healing items. Akira had thrown all of them over to them when he fought Akechi earlier.

“He’s an idiot.” Akechi said his voice cracking. “Stupid stupid stupid….” Nobody said anything. “Why did he do it? He used the last bit to heal me…I would have survived!”

“Shh!” Haru shushed him. “Joker…Akira, values all of us.”

“I can’t understand his need to go so far.” Akechi mumbled then pointed to the patch on Haru’s arm. “Can I borrow that?”

“Sure.” She took it off and slapped it onto his forehead hard. Yusuke couldn’t help but laugh despite the situation.

“You two were having fun there for a bit.” Futaba said. “Before Akira decided to get royally dicked up like the dick he is.” She sniffled wiping the back of her hand across her eyes.

“You know I always wanted to do a battle run with Akira just the two of us.” Akechi said leaning on his palm. “I knew he was strong, I also knew he was an idiot, but battling together with him is an enlightening experience.”

“You sound like you’re trying to make a move on him.” Ann scoffed.

“I wouldn’t put it past him.” Morgana snickered. “You like Akira.”

“Mm.” Akechi hummed. “He’s so very interesting.”

“And you’ll end up very dead if you keep on that train of thought.” Ryuji said gesturing to Yusuke.

“Argh!” Ann exclaimed falling back into a seat. “I can’t do any further.”

“You barely started…” Yusuke said as Morgana and Makoto took up seats beside her both exhausted.

“You try it then!” Ann snapped, he flinched. “Sorry…”

“No no, I’m sorry.” He said ashamed. “I…lose rationality when it comes to him.”

“He brings that out in people.” Akechi commented.

Yusuke walked over to where their leader was laid out on the table. His hands were placed one over the other and his mask had been pushed up to sit above his head which was facing away from him. The bleeding had slowed but it still painted his head like a crown. Had there been flowers around him Yusuke would have though he were dead. That sudden thought made him feel sick. He held a hand in front of Akira’s face, his breath was shallow but there.

“What was your original plan with that Akechi?” Makoto asked. “When you shot the door control.”

“It was to give you guys a chance to escape.” Akechi sighed. “Someone messed with my plan.”

“As he would.” Makoto sighed. “You two seemed to get along well in the battle. Will you be joining us?”

“I think it will take a lot of time.” Akechi said. “I need to…come to terms with everything. And apologise properly.”

“For a minute there I was worried you made yourself absolutely psychotic.” Ryuji sighed. “What was with that anyway?”

“Even I’m not sure. I haven’t explored it in depth.” Akechi answered. “I know it can fade away after a bit.” He stood up and staggered a little bit. He ended up leaning on Yusuke for support. Yusuke turned and met his gaze. They just stared at each other, then Akechi cracked a smile and laughed. Yusuke just frowned at him and Akechi staggered around to the side of the table. He put a hand over Akira’s smiling, well more like smirking.

“Okay, stop.” Yusuke said firmly. “I will punch you.”

“Jesus you don’t hold back do you?” Akechi laughed then smirked and leaned in closer to Akira’s head. “Ah ah I’m so close to him.” What was he playing at?

“Are you five?” Ann asked but she was laughing slightly. Yusuke slammed his hands down on the table leaning over snarling. Akechi still laughed and pulled away. They both stood over Akira, Akechi was smiling while Yusuke glared. Akechi slid a hand up Akira’s chest then reached around to cup his cheek and Yusuke swore he was just stirring him up but reached for his sword anyway drawing it when Akira relaxed into his palm. He opened his mouth to yell but magic poured from Akechi’s hand coating Akira in a green glow for a moment.

“You…” Yusuke trailed off. He recognised the magic, Morgana, Ann, and Makoto could use it to support them.

“You know how to heal?” Haru asked.

“Revive more specifically. I don’t have enough energy for the full effect.” Akechi explained. “I saved him in the Metaverse once, powered it down so it was barely noticeable. It kept him stable until you could heal him. I told him I wanted the satisfaction of killing him myself…but that was a lie. Part of me wanted to continue living on in this fantasy.”

“I’ve never been able to do that though…” Makoto mumbled. “It’s like there’s a set amount that we’ll always heal others to.”

“Neither.” Morgana added. “How?”

“I don’t know if it’s a special ability or not.” Akechi shrugged rubbing his thumb over Akira’s cheek.

“Okay, stop.” Yusuke said again and once again Akechi laughed but didn’t lift his hand. So Yusuke walked around and punched him in the face, hard. The others just looked around shocked- well, Ryuji thought it was the greatest thing ever and was literally cheering in the background.

“Ouch!” Akechi whined holding his cheek.

“I warned you.” Yusuke huffed.

“What are you doing?” Akira asked. They both turned quickly to look at their leader who had just woken up. Akira groaned sitting up. Yusuke moved closer in an instant helping him sit up properly and moving the chairs around so Akira’s legs could dangle off the table.

“How are you feeling?” He asked.

“I’m okay.” Akira said with a slow nod. “Everything’s still a little fuzzy.”

“We can’t heal you any more than that I’m afraid.” Queen sighed. “We’re all absolutely depleted.”

“Thank you for your efforts.” Akira said. “I can’t believe I fucked up that badly.”

“That’s an understatement.” Akechi scoffed.

“I haven’t taken a full attack like that in a while.” Akira stretched his limbs out wincing. “We’ve still got time before the elections. Everyone spend the next two days resting up.”

“Of course.” Morgana said with a firm nod. “I’ll make sure Akira sleeps as well.”

“Akechi.” Akira called. Akechi quirked an eyebrow. “What will you do?”

“Get some stuff from my apartment, go into hiding maybe.” Akechi shrugged.

“You can stay with me if you like.” Akira offered. “The world is probably going to think we’re both dead after a while.”

“I couldn’t possibly…” Akechi trailed off frowning in thought. “I might have to actually. Until I can find another safe house. Shido probably knows where my normal one is.”

“He could stay with me, I don’t have a roommate.” Yusuke offered more to keep Akechi away from Akira then anything.

“You’ll get into huge trouble if anyone finds out Yusuke, you might lose your scholarship.” Makoto cut in firmly. “I’d have him stay with us but sis isn’t keen on him right now.”

“That’s only fair.” Akechi replied.

“Don’t worry! I’ll keep an eye on him!” Morgana said puffing up his chest looking smug.

“As if you’re gonna manage to do that.” Ryuji scoffed. Yusuke had to agree, although Akira trusted Morgana wholeheartedly what would a cat if Akira got into trouble?

“Stop arguing.” Akira said firmly. “It’s draining enough being here when we’re all so exhausted but until we decide on what to do with Akechi we have to stay. If he accessed the Metaverse and returned to the real world somewhere near Shido he might get killed. We can at least agree that we don’t want Shido to destroy him like that yes?”

Everyone stayed silent but nodded. Yusuke couldn’t help noticing how shocked Akechi seemed to see them agree on that.

“Right. Then he’s staying at my place until further notice.” Akira said pushing himself up and off the table. He wobbled a bit and Yusuke helped steady him. “Do you need help clearing out your apartment?”

“I only need to grab two things.” Akechi replied waving his hand. “You’re so willing to jump to help me, you’re making your friends suspicious.” Akira just fixed Akechi with a knowing smile. What did that even mean?

“Okay, let’s head out.” Makoto said standing up. “The quicker we get through with this the better.”

 

 

In the end Yusuke and Makoto came along with Akira to wait for Akechi outside his apartment. It was getting late. It seemed Makoto wasn’t willing to risk trusting Akechi like the rest of them. However before they left she whispered to each of them that she would come along to beat the crap out of him if he tried anything on their leader. The others had wanted to come but it would have been too suspicious.

“We could just let him stay at his place.” Makoto spoke up. They stood in a small circle looking at their phones while Akira crouched down patting Morgana. “Technically Shido wouldn’t know he’s not going to work for him.” It was true, Akechi didn’t really have to leave his place to join them. He could deceive Shido like he had tried with them. They both looked to Akira seeing as it was mostly his plan from here on out.

“Shido would have him continue out those orders.” Akira replied tapping at his phone. “How could he lie about taking someone out? And even if he does successfully convince them who’s to say they won’t try and turn on him to gain Shido’s favour? He’s very popular remember?”

“I…you’re right.” Makoto sighed. “Plus it would put him in a lot of danger.”

“Akira’s thought a lot about what to do about Akechi.” Morgana pipped up with a purr when Akira scratched under his neck. “Even I had given up to be honest. Akechi is pretty stubborn.”

“Why did you want to save him so badly?” Yusuke asked.

“The arcana.” Akira replied leaving the other two to stare at him confused. “Really. Akechi is unique and has many talents. I wanted to break him free from the chains of his fate. As I helped most of you do.”

“That…” Makoto said softly.

“That was rather poetic.” Akechi chuckled walking over to them and leaning down to pat Morgana. He had changed into a simple pair of black pants with a dark red hoodie. The two really matched having both of their hoods up. Akechi had his signature briefcase with him as well as a bigger overnight bag. Akira just smiled and stood up while Morgana climbed up onto his shoulder and into his bag.

“You’re a slave, want emancipation?” He remarked walking ahead of them to lead them back to the station. Akechi just stared for a moment before he let out a soft chuckle.

“I suppose we are.” He said low. They followed Akira’s lead.

It was such an odd thing for Akira to say but it was true. Yusuke himself had been a slave to the art society, or more specifically Madarame’s will. Presenting his work only to have the credit stolen, trying his best only to be belittled, pushing himself just to try and please his sensei at the cost of his health. Then Akira came along with Ann and Ryuji. The three of them freed him. Makoto stopped for a moment adjusting the bag over her shoulder and walked on. Makoto had been freed as well. By joining them in the Palace she was able to open her eyes properly. She had broken free of all the expectations and was able to grow as a person.

From what he had heard from Ann and Ryuji Akira played a major part in helping them break free as well. At the time he had barely said anything but it spurred them on to rebel and awaken to their personas.

The awakening was such a beautiful thing.

The agonising pain, a dark voice in their heads, a mask to mark their rebellion. The moment they ripped it off set the birth of their growth. The moment their pain turned into power was truly beautiful. Yusuke often wondered what Akira’s awakening looked like. Yusuke bet it would have been amazing.

“Do any of you want to get dinner?” Akira asked as they boarded the train heading for Shibuya.

“No, I’ll have to head home.” Makoto said shaking her head as she looked at her phone. “I’ll see you all another time.”

Makoto left them and in her place tension took over. Akira walked ahead of them having decided that they would get some take away in Shibuya but Akechi and Yusuke walked almost side by side both looking to their leader. It was silent aside from Akira’s occasional murmuring to Morgana.

“You seem on edge Yusuke.” Akechi said quietly. Was it any wonder why Yusuke would be on edge?

“Considering your magnificent betrayal was going to end in the death of my boyfriend it’s understandable for me to be wary is it not?” Yusuke replied.

“True. I suppose you all don’t follow him blindly.” Akechi hummed. “I will admit, I thought you all to be useless idiots.”

“You’re true self is quite rude isn’t it?” Yusuke asked raising an eyebrow.

“Well after everything there’s no need for further pleasantries is there?” Akechi asked shrugging. Yusuke paused and nodded.

“That is true.” He said. “However while you think that we are blindly following him that is not the case.”

“I am aware.” Akechi noted. “You each have abilities which further advance your group. But Akira is quite special, he is a man of many admirable skills.”

“My boyfriend is quite wonderful.” Yusuke said firmly with a soft smile enjoying the way Akechi’s eyebrow twitched.

“Glad to see you’re getting along.” Akira teased them.

They grabbed some food and headed back on to LeBlanc on the train. Yusuke refused to let Akechi stay with Akira for at least tonight. He didn’t trust the other man. But they were all so exhausted. They were practically dragging themselves into the café. They all managed to eat about half of what they got before Morgana made them go to bed as Yusuke was “going to make a burger his pillow”.

Akira gave him the overnight clothes Yusuke had left there and offered some clothes to Akechi, but he had brought his own. Akira went to brush his teeth and he and Akechi looked at the bed and then the sofa.

“I get the bed, I’m going to share with Akira.” Yusuke said.

“If I slept on the couch I think I might bruise myself further. Doing what I did in the metaverse was damaging.” Akechi rebutted. “I won’t just steal the bed of my host though, he can share with me.”

“So princely, can’t even sleep on a sofa?” Yusuke scoffed. “Yo-”

Akira came back upstairs with a yawn and holding some more bedding. He threw his doona on the couch along with his pillow then set some spares on the bed. The implication was clear when he grabbed his fox plush and lay down on the sofa. Yusuke was going to share with Akechi. Morgana hopped up next to Akira and settled in with him.

“Akira this…” Akechi trailed off turning to Akira who fixed them both with his stoic expression as Morgana looked up too.

“You must be tired.” They said together firmly. “Let’s go to sleep.”

Yusuke and Akechi stared at each other as Akira turned over. Akechi climbed into the bed sticking closest to the wall. Yusuke got in as well sticking closest to the edge. The gap between them was so wide, Yusuke wiggled a bit closer only because he felt like he was going to fall out of the bed. He accidentally knocked Akechi’s leg and Akechi knocked it back trying to readjust.

“Goodnight.” Akira said to them.

“Goodnight.” They replied in sync.

“I’m proud of you both.” It was said so softly and so fondly that Yusuke melted. He caught Akechi looking in the direction of the sofa and could see easily that he felt the same. He wondered if Akechi was having a change of heart like they had helped with Mishima Yuuki. Maybe Akechi was changing his heart himself from their kindness even as little as it was?

Morgana jumped off and flicked the lights off before crawling back to Akira snuggling up near him. Yusuke was more than a little bit jealous. He lay staring up at the ceiling where Akira had decorated with the glow in the dark stars they had gotten at the planetarium. Eventually he closed his eyes and drifted off.

 

 

The next day they had all been so defeated from the Metaverse they just ate and tended to any remaining wounds from the Metaverse. Sojiro had closed LeBlanc to help Futaba, though it was more he worried after seeing a few of the wounds from Shido’s palace and even though she reassured him he still worried and wanted to stay with her for the day. Which was great apparently since Akira hadn’t come up with a reason for Akechi to stay at LeBlanc. He would have to convince Sojiro another day, Futaba hadn’t spilled the beans either which was good.

Sojiro did stop by to check on him and Yusuke and gave them some curry which he made in a big pot so they could have as much as they wanted. He then went back home and Akira called Akechi down to eat some.

Akechi was ultimately silent. Though to be fair they all had been. They didn’t stay up for long either opting to go back to sleep. The Metaverse had done a number on them. Especially Akira and Akechi. They made sure to message the group and confirm everyone was alive and okay. It seemed the rest of them were absolutely conked out by the Metaverse as well. Then once again they took up the same places as last night. Akira took the couch with Morgana, Akechi took the wall side of the bed, and Yusuke took the outer side. Akira also praised them again for their hard work and it still made Yusuke feel happy.

 

 

Everything was dark. He couldn’t see a thing but he could hear something thumping on what sounded like a wall. He walked forward a little but stopped, the area around him wasn’t getting any clearer. However, the sound was getting closer.

Thump.

He walked again, slowly this time.

Step. Thump. Step. Thump.

Step, step.

Silence.

He stopped

“Hello?” He called out into the darkness. The thumping started up again, he walked towards it again.

Thump. Thump

**THUD**

Everything around him was suddenly bright, there’s the sound of static screaming in his head as he shielded his eyes.

_“Stop…”_ That was Akira speaking- no pleading. _“No please- stop!”_ He tried to look around but he’s swarmed with darkness again and the ground gave away. He didn’t fall though, he only floated. The sound of Akira whimpering surrounded him and he looked around frantically.

“Akira? Akira?!” He yelled but the sounds stop abruptly. Colour bleeds through the darkness and he’s standing in front of a door. Then suddenly he’s running to it and throwing it open. It takes a while but when he throws his weight on it it finally opens.

_“Akira!”_ It’s Akechi screaming. Akira’s being flung against the steel door by a shadow. His body hitting the door makes a sickening sound and the thump of his body falling to the ground makes it

“Y-you!” He reached for a weapon but found he had none. His hands were empty, the cold thrum of power he usually felt from Goemon was gone. He looked at his outfit to see he was only in his uniform, he felt around for a mask but there was none. He looked for his teammates but there is no one but him, the shadow, and Akira. It laughs and lifts its massive paw bringing it down onto Akira who screamed in pain. It does it again. “Stop! Stop it!”

Yusuke runs forward but it feels like the two just stay the same distance away. He can see Akira reaching for him through the legs of the beast.

_“Yusuke…”_ Blood poured from his mouth. _“I can’t…”_ The shadow slammed its paw down on him once more and then disappears. Yusuke can finally get to him. He drops to his knees in a puddle of blood. Akira’s lying face down.

“Akira?” He pulled his boyfriend into his lap but he’s cold, blood is continuing to pool around them. He turned his body over and Akira’s staring up at him but his eyes are lifeless. “No no no. Akira? My muse? My love?” He tried shaking his boyfriend but then he starts to disappear, melting into the blood around him. “No no no! No Akira!”

He tried to hold on but it was like a balloon had popped and Akira disintegrated into blood. He was gone, he started to cry slamming his fist down in the liquid. Something wrapped around his wrist and attempts to pull him down harshly. He doesn’t try to fight it…but then Akira is standing in the blood before him as Joker.

“Akira!” He looks up but he just sees Joker slowly walking away. He tries to pull himself free to follow. “Wait! Akira! Wait for me!” He’s walked so far away but he hasn’t gone too far and Yusuke is sinking into the blood. “Please!” Joker stops and turns around slowly, then he evaporates like a shadow when killed and Yusuke is pulled down completely. He can’t move. He can’t breathe, everything was growing dark again.

 

Yusuke bolted awake sitting up holding his chest. Vaguely aware of the sweat dripping from his brow all he can focus on is his heart thumping loudly in his ears. He looked to the spot next to him but finds it empty. The panic hits immediately and he tries to untangle himself from the sheets.

_“You were having a nightmare.”_ Goemon’s voice cuts through his thoughts clear as day. _“You were not sleeping next to Akira, you were sleeping next to Akechi.”_

“Goe…” He rasped out but the name of his persona died on his tongue.

_“Deep breaths.”_ Goemon instructed. Yusuke breathed in deeply, his shoulders shaking. It takes a bit to calm down but then he realises Akechi is not beside him. He turns to see the detective hovering over Akira.

“Ake-…” He cuts himself off looking at the other boy. Akechi was pale and shaking like he was. He has two fingers pressed to the underside of Akira’s neck feeling for a pulse. Akira shifted and groans and Akechi shuffled back breathing deeply. He turned around and their gazes meet. Akechi wordlessly climbs over Yusuke to get back into bed with him.  

“He’s alive?” Yusuke asked.

“He’s alive.” Akechi said sounding relieved. “He’s alive. He’s alive…” He hastily wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and takes a big shuddering breath before sighing. Akechi closed his eyes. Yusuke does the same. The vision of Akira’s lifeless body makes him open his eyes again. His hands shook so he clenched and unclenched them. He wished Akira was beside him instead of Akechi, at least that way he could hug him. But it is comforting to at least not be alone in the bed.

“Yusuke?” Akechi asked, he looked over to see the detective looking at him. Akechi looked slightly dazed still. “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Yusuke asked.

“I didn’t want to do it.” Akechi blubbered. “I didn’t want to, I liked him. He was so amazing I didn’t want to. But I craved the attention of my father more. I killed him for petty revenge.”

“Akec-”

“I should have just acted on my gut and trusted in him. He would have figured a way out because of course he would. Akira Kurusu is clever and resourceful. Instead….All I’ve given him is pain and he wants to give me a second chance?” Akechi continued.

“Akechi yo-”

“I can’t understand him. I did such awful things and he just turns around and asks me to join the team?” Akechi kept going, he was panicking. “I-”

“He believes in you.” Yusuke interrupted. “I don’t. He does. I can’t understand it myself, but Akira has faith in you. I can’t speak on his behalf but trust me when I say that if you betray him again the rest of us will make sure you live to regret it.” Akechi stared at him and blinked a few times then smiled but it was broken.

“You really love him.” He said.

“I do.” Yusuke rolled away from Akechi. “And you?”

“I…” Akechi’s voice died off. “I…do too.”

“I’m not letting him go.” Yusuke huffed. “Unless he wants to break up of course. But Akira is my light, I’m not going to let him be stolen from me.” Akechi said nothing to that. They continued to lie in silence until they both drifted off to sleep.

 

 

They all woke up around mid-afternoon. Sojiro had heard from Futaba about Akechi and had called Akira down for a ‘talk’. Yusuke and Akechi sat awkwardly upstairs as a yelling match went on between Sojiro and Akira over Akechi.

“I don’t understand him…” Akechi mumbled. He was more composed than the previous night. Morgana pounced off the bench he was on and sat between them.

“Akira does some pretty unpredictable things.” Morgana said. “Whenever I ask him he just says ‘the arcana’ as if I know what sort of explanation that is. Maybe it’s an ability he has as a multiple persona user.”

“The arcana?” Akechi asked frowning. Morgana shrugged…well as much as he could as a cat.

“He says we each have a place in the arcana as proof as our bonds with him. I don’t quite understand. I think he’s been hanging around Chihaya too much…” Morgana mumbled and Akechi shook his head.

“No, I understand.” He said. “I know what he means to a degree…I haven’t formed many bonds aside from the one with him so his is the only arcana I know.”

“Oh?” Morgana asked. “Maybe it’s a thing for you multi-persona users.”

“Perhaps.” Akechi said softly. “I…I guess that’s…originally I thought he was gullible or something. When we first spoke there was an obvious distrust but when we got to know each other further it revealed that he had absolute trust in me. It shifted before he jumped through to save me but…it was still there…”

“So what are you trying to tell us?” Yusuke asked.

“That he can most likely see how I truly regard him…possibly.” Akechi hummed. “I’m not quite sure, but I will ask.”

“Wow…most of the time we brush it off as something weird. He says some strange stuff occasionally.” Morgana said.

“I suppose…” Akechi frowned. “I’ll ask him about it.”

Speak of the devil. Akira trudged up the stairs looking drained.

“What was that about?” Morgana asked.

“Sojiro isn’t happy about the situation. I explained my side. He explained his side. LeBlanc is closed for today so we can both cool our heads.” Akira grumbled. He plopped down next to Yusuke and leaned against him with a heavy sigh. Sojiro was most likely considering it seriously since he didn’t come up and demand that Akechi leave.

“Akechi was telling us about the arcana you always talk about.” Morgana meowed.

“Ah yeah.” Akira mumbled. “You can see it too?”

“Just for you.” Akechi replied. “Who can you see it for?”

“Everyone I know almost.” Akira smiled when Yusuke wrapped an arm around his waist. “Do you want to know which Arcana you are?”

“I was told, how about you?” Akechi asked.

“Wanna guess?” Akira laughed.

“Fool.” Akechi said rolling his eyes.

“Hey, that was uncalled for.” Morgana huffed. Akechi and Akira shared a laugh.

“No no, I’m the Fool arcana. He’s Justice.” Akira explained.

“I can’t follow this.” Morgana mumbled shaking his head.

“More importantly though, Akechi what do you want to do?” Akira asked. “We’re going to go after Shido. Do you want in? Have you thought about it?”

“No…I don’t…I can’t…” Akechi shook his head sadly. “I’d love to but I…I don’t feel strong enough to not fall back into line to try and please him. My heart is weak. I don’t want to…do the stuff I did before.”

“Alright.” Akira nodded.

“Alright?” Akechi asked incredulously. “That’s it? You just trust me to be in your house while you’re in the palace?”

“You’re trying to make me change my opinion of you by making yourself seem suspicious. But I see you Akechi Goro.” Akira hummed.

“You told me last night as well. You didn’t want to do what you did.” Yusuke spoke up. Akechi looked at him wide eyed. Yusuke guessed it was more surprise for the fact that he was saying it to him. “You want to change right? You’ve already started, stop trying to fight it and live with your eyes open for once.” Akira and Akechi stared at him.

“Well said Yusuke.” Morgana praised.

“Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of distrust between you and our group.” Yusuke added. “But we’re not so heartless to leave you to such a fate.”

Akechi said nothing further again but Yusuke could tell he appreciated his words.  They sat in silence and Morgana changed the topic since the silence was getting really awkward. It would take a long time for everyone to come to terms with everything. The only thing they could do would be to wait.

 

 


	11. A Snippet but not a full chapter - updates and requests

Honestly I'm stuck with where to go with this. I've had some stuff happening in real life and I've barely been able to do much for my fics aside from one shots that come up here and there from inspiration.

I do have stuff written for this chapter but it's far from complete.

 **Over on my oneshot series I'm taking oneshots requests** so feel free to go request somethings. I will decline if it makes me uncomfortable though.

 

Anyway here's a snippet from some of the latest chapter.

 **It is unedited though so it might change** it might not but we'll see. I felt guilty for not updating this in ages.

 

The next day Akechi decided to read a reference book that Akira had bought. He hadn’t been going to school and while both Akira and Akechi were in hiding Akira still went out and did quite a bit. Today he was helping out at Tae Takemi’s clinic.

“Ah, good you _are_ here.” A familiar voice said. He looked up to see Sae’s sister Makoto standing at the top of the stairs.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. She placed a tote bag down near the railing.

“I just came to drop these off for you, I must get back to prepare for some school things.” She said. “I’ll see you another time.” With that said she went back down the stairs. Akechi looked at the bag she had left curiously.

Placing down the reference book he got up and walked over to it. It had a few books in it. He picked it up and sat down on Akira’s bed picking the contents out of the bag. There were a few word puzzle books, a few novels, and three notebooks. He opened the first one and inside it was a pink sticky note.

_Sis said a teacher passed these onto her for you. – Makoto Niijima_

He flipped through it finding that it included notes from his classes. He flicked through the second one finding that it was filled with homework problems. The third one had a sticky note in it as well.

_These are a few problems from my year level if you would like a challenge. If you finish it I can get it graded by a teacher as well.  – Makoto Niijima_

He flicked through it finding a sets of problems in different handwriting. It had been a while since he had done anything other than work for Shido or the police. He couldn’t help but feel a little happy, it was like the shows he had watched at a foster home once. A friend delivering the work that had been missed to their house. Akechi decided to read through the notes from his class first.

 

The next day while he was doing some of the problems his school had left him Makoto came by again with another tote bag.

“How goes the work?” She asked passing Akechi the tote bag this time. He looked through it, more word puzzle books, a few more novels, and some more notes were in it. The novels this time were comedy serials.

“Well enough.” He replied. “Though…”

“Do you need some assistance with a problem?” Makoto asked leaning over to look at the problem he was on. He shook his head.

“I just fail to understand why you suddenly brought me these things.” He told her. “Couldn’t get Akira to pass it along?” He saw her frown sternly.

“No. I came to deliver it myself for a reason.” She answered.

“Oh? What reason?” He pried leaning back in his chair. He watched her collecting her thoughts and said nothing.

“You…are bored right?” She asked carefully. “Of sitting here waiting for Akira while he runs errands and such.”

“Your point?” He asked, he saw her eyebrow twitch with irritation.

“You are a smart individual Akechi, surely you feel the need to challenge yourself at times.” She stated. She wasn’t wrong. It was boring to sit around all day reading novels. He used to work constantly, so much so that he drank coffee as if he were a fish in water. But now he had done barely anything to challenge himself.

However what he wanted to understand was why Makoto felt the need to give him these things herself. She could just send them with Akira.

“You could have simply asked Akira to give them to me.” He replied.

“That’s not the point Akechi.” She sighed rubbing her forehead. “There was no other way I could think of to get closer to you.”

“Closer?” He asked. Though he knew what she meant. Futaba had come saying the same things the other day.

“Had I come empty handed and try to speak with you it was more likely that you would ignore me, isn’t that right?” She asked. Sharp as always, he was prepared to ignore most of the phantom thieves. “At least this way I could have offered my opinion or assistance with what I had given you.”

“A fair call.” He mused. “However I had not expected you to want to become closer with me.”

“I admit I surprise myself with the action as well. However I learned that sometimes you need to push and not pull.” Makoto sat down on the sofa. “I suspect that you mean that you didn’t expect me to try and befriend you because of my relationship with Haru and my envy towards how close you were with my sister.”

“I…yes.” Akechi replied.

“On the contrary because of your actions I am closer with my sister now.” Makoto smiled softly. “As for Haru, she was the one to suggest I come to see you in the first place. I can sort of understand why you would strive for the approval of your father…I kept trying to get the approval of others by being the perfect student. But…that wasn’t me. I was chained down by expectations, I was able to break free after joining the Phantom Thieves and I imagine it was the same for you. Even if it was for a short while.”

Akechi looked at her and she turned to face him.

“This…will take time.” She said. “For the entire group to trust you I mean. It will be hard considering everyone’s standpoints. But we are here for you Akechi.”

“I…” He trailed off. “I can’t understand you all, so sickeningly sweet.”

“I can’t understand how you like pancakes, they are too sweet.” She replied. He must have pulled a face because in the next moment she started laughing. “That was a joke, you should have seen your face.”

“Very funny Makoto.” He huffed rolling his eyes. “Thank you…for the work.”

“I hope it proves to be a challenge.” She replied. She stood up and walked towards the stairs.

“Wait.” He called. Makoto looked at him from over her shoulder. “How…how is Sae-san? Is she alright?” He expected her to lash out at him, especially considering the danger his betrayal had put her cognitive self in. However Makoto smiled at him.

“She is doing very well, working hard as always.” She said. “I will send her your regards.”

“Thank…thank you.” He stuttered. Makoto waved to him before she left.

Akechi continued to study for a little before picking up one of the novels Makoto had left yesterday. Inside it was a green sticky note with familiar handwriting.

_You may laugh at my taste in detective novels, however I think this one is a good read. Take care of yourself – Sae Niijima_

Akechi couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his face. He wondered if he could see her again, he missed meeting her to talk about cases. But…maybe further down the track.

**Author's Note:**

> Bit slow starting for now but honestly I don't know how to pace myself. I tried to pick up all the spelling mistakes and such but we'll seeeeee.


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